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About
Henry Hall Baily was a Tasmanian-born professional photographer. He trained at the London School of Photography in 1861 and on return to Hobart in the mid 1860s, where he established his own firm, advertising vignettes, cartes de visite, and miniature portraits for brooches and lockets.
A carte de visite is a stiff card of about 10 x 6.4 cm, with an attached paper photograph, invented in 1854 by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disderi. They were introduced into Australia in 1859 by William Blackwood with albums arriving in 1860, aiding the collection and distribution of multiple cartes. Cartes were usually portraits and were made by the millions worldwide. Multi-lens, or ‘multiplying’ cameras were introduced in the 1860s, which were capable of producing from 2 to 32 images in quick succession, dramatically increasing the number of cartes de visite that could be made from a single photographic plate. They were easily reproduced by making paper contact prints from the glass plates, which were then cut and pasted to card.
Details
Date
1866-1881
Materials used
carte de visite
Dimensions
6.9 x 4.9 cm oval image; 9.4 x 5.6 cm sheet; 10.3 x 6.3 cm mount card
Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Purchased 2014
Location
Not on display
Accession number
252.2014
Shown in 1 exhibition
Exhibition history
The photograph and Australia:
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 21 Mar 2015–08 Jun 2015
- Queensland Art Gallery, South Brisbane 04 Jul 2015–11 Oct 2015
Referenced in 1 publication
Bibliography
The photograph and Australia, Sydney, Jun 2015, 245 (colour illus.).