Hidden mothers

Description

This series contains bon-ton images with little to no painting. All tintypes are studio portraits of young children who may have needed adult support or guidance to sit for the length of exposure. The range of tintypes in this series demonstrates the many ways in which people positioned children and themselves to keep children still. People would go to great lengths to remove themselves from the image, either during the exposure (by hiding behind props or out of the frame) or afterward (by coloring, scratching, or damaging the emulsion). Parents and photographers also relied on specific studio props and restraints. The adults who appear in these images, however unwillingly, have been referred to as “hidden mothers,” “vanishing women,” or “ghost” or “shrouded” women. However, this collection contains a few examples of hidden men, who may have been either photographers or relatives. It was not uncommon for studios to specialize in portraits of children. This series contains an image and sleeve from one such operation, Avery's Young America Picture Gallery (PC068-474). Series distinctions are not meant to imply mutual exclusivity, but rather to group tintypes with similar compositional traits.