More Pictures from the Edwardian Parr Family of Seymour Road

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on November 17, 2017 at 15:15

Didn't the clock tower look so much better when it wasn't part of a massive traffic island?

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Permalink Reply by JoeW on November 17, 2017 at 19:32

This photo was taken about 25 minutes later:

(Plus 110 years)

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Permalink Reply by Geraldine on November 17, 2017 at 23:22

I like the one of dog on chair in August Bank Holiday 1903.  Somehow you know it isn't Parr Senior who's boss in that house.  Photos like Mysterious Stan were very popular at that time.  Fairies in the garden and so on.  It's a great collection.  Thanks for sharing it with us, Hugh.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on November 17, 2017 at 23:45

"Mysterious Stan" is, as I'm sure most people know, a double-exposure image. I may well just be showing my ignorance of the history of amateur photography, but I was surprised to see this technique being used in such an everyday matter so long ago.  

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Permalink Reply by John D on November 18, 2017 at 8:21

Looks like a triple exposure Hugh. Very easy to do ( usually accidentally ) with the simple cameras of the time. Just don't wind on the film between exposures.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on November 18, 2017 at 9:03

Indeed it does. Simple once you know how, but still rather more advanced than just pushing a button. I hadn’t realised that camera ownership was at all widespread amongst families with modest incomes in this period let alone that they were getting beyond the basics in their home snaps.

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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on November 18, 2017 at 10:59

In 1900 Kodak introduced the 'Brownie' camera at a price of 5 shillings, it took six 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 pictures on roll film.  Good contextual article here, written by Colin Harding, ex-National Media Museum chief.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on November 18, 2017 at 13:05

Thanks Gordon. If Brownie photos were 1:1 ratio, the it doesn't look like these images were captured using a Brownie. They seem to be more like a 5:4. 

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Permalink Reply by John D on November 18, 2017 at 15:41

I think the Brownie Mk 2, introduced a few years later, gave rectangular format pictures.

Permalink Reply by Richard Woods on November 24, 2017 at 12:57

As others say multiple exposures were easy to do but there was little way of adjusting the exposure to match the picture so images became ghosts. The film stock looks like 120 5:4 to me. Roll film of 12 exposures per roll. This week i noticed that a can of 35mm x36 currently costs £12.99 - without dev and print! Isn't digital grand!

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