More popular in Europe than the USA, the studio backdrop was probably introduced to Britain by Antoine Claudet in the early 1840s. But it was in the 1860s that pictorial cloth hangings became popular as a way of providing subjects with the kind of grand or dignified background that was traditional for painted portraits. Interior scenes could suggest the stateliness of home in which such a distinguished sitter might be found, while views of the natural world beyond might hint at the status conferred by possession of ancestral acres. But though the aim of creating an imposing setting survived, taste and style changed over the decades: the pictured locations grew less domestic and the painted scenery more romantic. Early examples tended to add a back wall to a scene already suggested by drapes and studio furniture. Book-lined studies were popular, but so was the classical look with columns, porticoes, and balustrades. (Three-dimensional versions of these items might be fitted with castors for greater mobility and made adjustable for clients of different sizes.) By the end of the 1860s, glimpses of garden or countryside were commonly to be had through arches or windows, and backdrops of the 1870s frequently presented a completely outdoor environment. At this early stage of the studio's excursion into the simulated open air, settings tended to suggest gardens or tended grounds. There were painted trees, shrubs, and pools, but nature was fairly well tamed. As the 1870s gave way to the 1880s, however, rustic settings began to acquire a wilder and more atmospheric character. There was often an impressionistic quality about the presentation of foliage, and a ruined folly might be seen on the skyline, with a dramatic sky behind it. Coastal and nautical scenes also made an appearance. Indoor settings had not completely disappeared but, by this time, they might be more Victorian than classical, depicting wood-panelled rooms with bays, window seats, and leaded glass.
Backdrops, furniture, and other props were commercially produced, with specialist firms such as Engelmann & Schneider in Dresden issuing detailed catalogues of their wares. (Germany's photographic industry had a strong position in the market not only for cameras but for studio fittings and albums, whose design was also influenced by technical change and fashion.) Bespoke cloths could be provided, and a prosperous studio would have a selection of scenes, some of them improbable. Seaside settings, for example, complete with lobster pots and papier-mâché rocks, were sometimes offered in studios that were far from the coast. The backdrops would be rolled up and stored, sometimes on racks from which they could be taken, unfurled, and hung, and sometimes one behind the other overhead, waiting to be pulled down like blinds. Constant unrolling and rolling could take its toll on the cloth, so creases and damaged edges are sometimes visible in the finished photograph. This was not always sufficient reason to put the backcloth into retirement, since a degree of willingly suspended disbelief was clearly attainable. Were it not, pictured instances of sylvan glade meeting studio skirting board or flooring would presumably be less common.
The 1890s' taste for head-and-shoulders vignettes left little room for scenery, and neutral backgrounds came back into favour. Pictorial backdrops never died out completely, and their debased descendant, the more-or-less comic seaside setting, survived for many years; but after the First World War it was the plain or textured background that was more characteristic of studio portraits. Even in the 21st century, however, a variety of commercial products can be seen at photographic trade fairs. In parts of India and Africa, painted backdrops and a range of props and accessories continue to signal the portrait studio (as it had been everywhere in the 19th century) as a site of fantasy and make-believe.
James Shivas, Peterhead: Scottish studio portrait, c.1890s. Cabinet print
— Robert Pols
See also dating old photographs.Bibliography
- Das Photoalbum 1858-1918. Eine Dokumentation zur Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte (1975).
- Linkman, A., The Victorians: Photographic Portraits (1993).
- Pinney, C., Camera Indica: The Social Life of Indian Photographs (1997)
