The FAMILY PORTRAIT + House

Sepia Saturday's theme is a Victorian family portrait. I'm sure if I really thought about it I'd find a portrait worthy of the theme. Instead, with nothing coming to mind, I'm taking the theme in a slightly different direction.

Portrait photography was generally done inside with a studio background. I'm not sure when it became popular to have the family pose in front of their home. It's a category that I jokingly call The American Dream.

Were the photographers just passing through in a wagon offering to take the family photo? Or did the photographers come out from town?

I especially enjoy the photo below because the house is so very much part of the portrait. A happy little house, eyes wide open, mouth open beckoning all to enter (or a dark hole ready to suck them in). It looks indeed to be a small house which had the family bursting at the seams; nine people in that house. Granted, we don't know how far back it went, but I'm guessing it was about as deep as it was wide. Of course it is possible that some of the relatives just showed up for the photo shoot, but we'll never know.


Click on image to see it larger.

It's a fun category to collect, but also an expensive one. That's the main reason I have collected so few. I try to generally find unusual ones that tell a story. In more than one I'm convinced the daughter in the family ran away with the photographer. At least I'm hoping they did; struck out for some adventure. Their version of running away with the circus.

In a house with nine I'm guessing every day was a bit of a circus.

Status SYMBOL

A home has always been a status symbol. It says you're able to provide for yourself and others. It allows a person to put down roots and to lay claim to the idea that they belong somewhere. We've gone through a horrendous period where the status symbol had to be larger than you'd ever need. Who'd have ever thought that a fast food joint would become a term used for a home? McMansions...it even sounds ugly and they generally are. There's a pretentiousness to them that I believe in the past was reserved for the extremely wealthy. Will the tacky neighborhoods comprised of McMansions ever be torn down and replaced with modest and useful homes? Once they're built what the heck do you do with them? Fill them with stuff!






Click on images to see them larger.

As a collector of vintage snapshots I'm always interested in the shots of people standing/sitting in front of their homes. They make a statement that they have "arrived." I don't know if people still hire photographers to take posed shots in front of their homes. I'm guessing a lot of people that live in McMansions do have shots like this taken, but now it's done to try and rub their "wealth" in the faces of someone else. We have really come off the rails in this country. If you don't believe me just tune into one of those "Housewives of..." somewhere shows where everything that is tacky is celebrated. McMansions of tacky grandeur filled with equally tacky people. Of course, it's also possible that all of the people shown below were tacky in their own time.

Click on images to see them larger.

This is my submission for this week to Sepia Saturday.