Just wanted to share a few images from my antique photograph collection. As someone who loves history, antiques (really anthing old), and photography, this seems to be the perfect way to combine all of them.

It may seem weird to some people (like my husband :~) ) to buy photographs of complete strangers, but I like to look at them and imagine what their lives were like, etc....

I don't collect them for monetary reasons... in fact I haven't paid more than $15 for any of them. Given the condition of some of them, they aren't worth much I'm sure. I know that I've seen some for hundreds and up given the subject and historical value. But these are insignificant in that sense.

These first are tintypes, which were made from 1855 until 1900..... I'm really not sure of the actual dates on the ones that I have. I'm going to have to find a book or some source for reliable dating. My guess is that the two on the left were earlier in that period and the boy on the right appears to be 1900's.

Message edited on: 01/21/2005 22:11

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com

These are albumen process, cabinet cards and card mounted photos, which were very popular during the period of 1866 to 1906. These are far more abundant than tintypes at least in my own experience of rooting through antique stores. In any case again I'm not sure of specific dates. These are random images from my collection....

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com

Love these old pix! Amazing how much DETAIL was captured in them...even back then. They have that little SOMETHING that makes 'em special and sets 'em apart. Everyone portrayed has a sort of regal look...even the kids! Great stuff! BTW ...you'd would have a field day at our local flea market here in NJ!!! I see stuff like this ALL the time...sometimes you can grab it for practically nothin! Thanks for the "blast from the past!" Joe

Michelle..I love these too. I have a bunch of family that I started working on.People always wondered why I wanted old torn photos.I grab em all. The tintype is 1800 something...not sure.Great grampa. The 1911 of family...1910 also of family. Mom dad in around 1930. I may start asking what the best way is for doing these out for a print.Maybe about 8x10 for largest.

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions."

Very neat....I have a few of those myself. What has always amazed me though is the fantastic quality of the images for that time. Another thing that would be interesting is if there would be some info on each image....who the people are and what became of them....as I'm sure that each image has an interesting story to tell.

In youth, we learn....with age, we understand.

Oh Thank you Michelle...I love post card and vintage....Sylvaine

Fascinating collection, if you ever cross the pond I will try to set a meeting with Peter Stubbs the designer of the link that I posted to Edinphoto, he has an impressive collection of very old photos and engravings dating back to the mid 1800s. many of which are in excellent condition. IMO one of the most interesting things for me is that the images are very detailed and sharp, moreover they were shot with what is essentially a large wooden box (and I complain about the DSLR weight ) with little more than a piece of glass on the front. Many of the shots were processed there and then in a mobile horse drawn carriage, because as I understand it, the film of the time had to be processed immediately.

The Truth is Out There

Oh Mich!!! I din't know you liked antiques and even bought antique pictures for 15$. Thats a big money for me.................... I am quite antique, I promise.... there are parts of me that have not been used since ages... hardly move my butt nor the other end for quite sometime now. I don't bath,comb,change my cloths and I smell original, I promise. Wana buy my potraits for the same sum of money?? :P:P:P ( all pun intended!!!) SNAKEY

Doug those are cool! I have a few that are of family too, and I'm dying to get my hands on my grandmothers photo box, just so I can scan all the old stuff and restore them. Unfortunately I have a stingy aunt who won't relinquish the photos out of her closet, despite the fact that my grandmother is still alive and wants the photos back....... sigh Family. :~/

Sylvaine...! I love those images! I have some erotica, from probably about the same period as the ones you have posted, unfortunately they are scans and not original photos. I wish I could get my hands on originals....

LOL @ Snakey... :~)) And LP that would be so much fun..... of course I'd expect to go out shooting all the sites with you too!

Message edited on: 01/22/2005 07:45

Message edited on: 01/22/2005 07:58

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com

No problem, it would be my honour.

The Truth is Out There

i luv all these old photos. i don't any old family pics like this. my parents have them all. i enjoy looking at old photos of other people...like you michelle, i love to imagine what these people were like...what their lives were like. but i don't collect things. i dunno why. i used to. not any more though. i have NO art collection whatsoever. not even my own. i gave away everything i did. all i have are my mother's paintings that hang on my wall. i have a few Dali prints. that's it. your thread made me dig. i found the first photo i ever made. later i will upload it. it's the only one i ever kept. i used to hold onto everything. but there was a time in my life i needed to run and run fast...when i left my ex-husband. long story, but i had less than 24 hours to pack and leave. i had so much stored away in attic....and no time to dig for that stuff. all lost. but i do have a very special photo i took of a very close girlfriend in high school. i show it later. thanks for showing history Michelle, Doug & Sylvaine!!! I enjoy looking!!!!!!

oh my, its a pleasure to look at all this wonderful historic photographs.one some i would like to make a colouring . thanks for showing tis pearls. !!!!!!!!!! #:O) !!!!!!!!!!

I have got a day at the Edinburgh photographic society tomorrow he he "gloat" which was the inspiration that made edinphoto what it is today, so that should be interesting.

The Truth is Out There

This is my Dad n mom sometime in the 1950s. Mom is now 74 and dad is no more....he expired in 1986.

Wow Raj your Dad was very handsome! And your mom such a petite beauty...... Your children will cherish this photo I am sure when they are older and have children of their own.......

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com

i thought that was u raj!!! more great memories!!

here is the first photo i ever took. it's of my girlfriend, Beth. we were friends from ages 12-18. i think i was 16 years old when i took this. I was a photographer and writer for the yearbook staff. the photo had completely yellowed and was totally beat up. i'm just grateful i found it despite it's wear!!!! brings back memories....

oops..i uploaded it way too big. let me try again. this image isn't in focus. you see i STILL have problems!! LOL. oh yeah, i processed and cropped it myself in dark room!!! boy those were some FUN days!!!

The looks on those faces are entirely different from nowadays photography. It tells something about photographers in that time (technical skills, equipment and verrry long exposure-times as you can see on [Swiss time](http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=713449)). It tells something about the people in that time (sturdy, solemn looks, and people were paying carefully attention to *the photographer* who did magical things with his cam). It tells something about how society somehow people made to choose this kind of photography (like we nowadays prefer usually other shots, people in action, etc.). I've added a partly magnified shot of Swiss time, where you can see the looks on those faces (a bit, the quality is not very well) and the long exposure time that makes several ghost-images of a farmer and the boy at the faucet. Old photography is really fun!!!

verrry interesting JC!!! This place looks familiar. Remember those two images you uploaded in your gallery...a before and after pic of some historical place in Switzerland??? This place i know is not the same, but is it very close...like just around the corner? I know I've never seen this photo but when i look at it I just keep feeling i've seen this place before. Perhaps it's a historical place that i might have seen in some book??? Thanks for showing!!!

rubbing eyes duh....if i had just seen that link to Swiss time foto I would have known!!!! it IS the same shot...just bigger!!! Well, you see how i am until i have coffee!!!!!! Yeah...you made it much bigger!!! thanks!!! i like that boy at faucet the best!!! i don't even notice him in the one in your gallery!!!!

The boy was playing there, I guess. Looking to this shot I estimate an exposure-time of 5 seconds or more. What would the boy do there? Was he instructed to wait? Or didn't he notice at all he was being photographed? Kinda movie-in-one-shot :)

luv these old nostalgic photos! think we'd have fun antique shopping 'chelle... & Raj, what a wonderful portrait of your parents... Sheila, I wonder how many of us worked on the yearbook staff, me too... Syl, I luv those too... jc, fascinating!! here's a page from one of my grandmother's photo album... I luv the fact that she wrote in it... ("Mt. Bernell", Austin, TX, 1920's) She's the one in the hat in the top left & the little one with the curley hair in the bottom right... yes, i got my curls from her

one more... here she is again, one of my faves of her... enjoyed hearing about the days of prohibition & being a flapper, very racey... a sweetheart, everyone luved her... ecspecially me :]

I see You in Her....both a couple of Shirley Temples :]