Young girl with her baby brother
From the very early years of photography into the 1950s, a small percentage of photographers made their living going around the country offering to photograph people in their homes. In effect, that translated to in front of their home, where the light was better. Sometimes they brought props that enticed parents to have their children photographed — on a pony, in a goat cart, etc.
In this photograph, the photographers apparently have a studio (at 820 Westminster street, Providence, Rhode Island), but they bill themselves right on their imprint as Prezeau & Tougas, home photographers. Conveniently for us, they also include the year in their imprint, 1903 in this case.
This images shows a little girl of seven or eight years, seated in a rocking chair, holding a baby in a very long christening gown — probably her little brother. It is interesting to note that even at her young age, the girl wears the high stiff collar that was currently in fashion for ladies of that time. Her dress has a fashionable yoke and embroidered trim.
The photographer draped a plain piece of canvas for background, and placed her chair next to a sparse and uninteresting potted plant. The white gown is washed out entirely in this too-contrasty image. If this is as good as they could do, I doubt these photographers stayed in business for long.
