In the 1860s a photographic craze swept the world. Long before the world went mad for selfies, ‘cardomania’ described a Victorian obsession with collecting small photographic portraits called ‘cartes de visite’. Images of statesmen, royalty, writers and other well known figures were bought and traded, with albums produced to display collections. Individuals and families would visit studios to have ‘CdVs’ of themselves made, and during the American Civil War soldiers sent their own CdVs to lovers and family as keepsakes, whilst the rapt public collected cards of the heroic generals and key protagonists from both sides of the battle lines.
March’s assignment is to recreate a carte de visite for the modern-day.
Start by looking at some cartes de visites here: http://www.phototree.com/gallery.asp?cat=CDV
Original cartes de visites are defined by certain features, but whether you choose to remain true to them or not is your call. They are invariably studio portraits, sometimes busts, sometimes full-length (standing or seated), and occasionally including items of furniture or props. They usually have some kind of border around the image, sometimes quite elaborate, with square or circular corners. They adhere to quite tight size constraints that give them a ratio of long side to short side of 5:3. Backgrounds were usually plain, and smiling seems to have been discouraged! (The long exposures probably had something to do with this) Original cartes de visite have very sepia colour tones, and inevitably signs of wear on them. Reproducing some of these effects might be fun, or you may choose to eschew mimickry in favour of something completely fresh.
Winners of the expert and crowd votes: 'Photography: A Cultural History' by Mary Warner Marien.
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