• Girl sitting on fence
Girl sitting on fence
Girl sitting on fence

Girl sitting on fence


Waterbury Photographic Society (associated with)
Photographer Unknown (created by)
circa 1890 (Date manufactured/created)
lantern slide composing of glass, an emulsion, tape, and paper.
3.25 inches H X 4 inches W
Before PowerPoint presentations or 35mm Kodak slides there were lantern slides. With the evolution of photography in the early to mid 1800s, it became possible to project an image to make it much larger for viewing at work or in classrooms. The lantern slide consisted of a base piece of glass, an emulsion of a positive image and then another piece of glass on the top. The slide could then be projected in some form of presentation.

This specific lantern slide has a cut out piece of paper sandwiched between the two pieces of glass that allows it to be identified without obscuring the image. One of the most challenging parts of archiving early photography, is that there was often no place to write identifying information, and that knowledge can be easily lost over time. This lantern slide is identified as being associated with the Photographic Society of Waterbury. It's possible that a member of the society processed this film for an amateur, but it's more likely that this is an example of a member of the society's work.
Lantern Slide Collection. Max R. Traurig Library and Archive, Mattatuck Museum.
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