Description
An incredible rare mid 19th century interior view of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge by unlisted* photographer Sidney Barnett. Beautiful colour backstamp featuring cherubs and a 19th century portrait camera.
4 x 2.5 inches
Sidney was the son of founder and owner of the Niagara Falls Museum, today recognized as the longest operating privately owned museum in North America 1827 to 1999. *Unlisted in the reference publication Ontario Photographers by Glen Phillips.
CDV is an acronym for Carte de visite, which is french for ‘card of my visit’. The term referenced the popularity and nature of the new almost magical art of photography which allowed people to share not only personal and family photographs but also ‘celebrity’, travel, exotic and local attractions and points of interest. The popularity of the format and its rapid uptake worldwide were due to their relative cheapness, which made portrait photographs more accessible to the general public. Using a negative, each individual carte print was made at a fraction of the cost of producing one full-plate daguerreotype, ambrotype or tintype picture and ten could be printed at once. With her husband Prince Albert, Queen Victoria amassed one of the most significant collections of early photography, she’s credited with being a major influence around the world in the popularity and ‘trading’ of CDVs.
