Early Brazilian Commercial Photography
Collection of Six CDVs of Afro-Brazilians by an Early Commercial Photographer in Brazil
Publication: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Photographia do Commercio, [1890s?].
Notes: A group of six carte-de-visite format albumen prints, likely dating from the 1890s. The subjects are all Afro-Brazilians posed standing with their right arm resting on a piece of furniture (a table, a chair, a pedestal). Five of the six images have printed backs identifying them as originating from Photographia do Commercio, Rua da Carioca, no. 40, Rio de Janeiro. These printed backs are in two styles, both similar but one is smaller than the other. The sixth image has no identifying information, but the distinctive pattern of the cloth on the table visible in the image places it in the same photo studio.
Wilhelm Gaensby (1843–1928) emigrated to Brazil from Switzerland with his parents when he was five, in 1848. He learned photography from Alberto Henschel and opened his own studio in Salvador in 1875. About 1893, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, keeping his original studio in operation. A number of albums of Gaensby's landscape and scenic photographs survive, but little has been written about his studio work. Perhaps the best survey of his career can be found in the chapter devoted to him in Os Fotógrafos do Império (Editora Capivara, 2005; translated from Brésil: Les premiers photographes d'un empire sous les Tropiques; Gallimard, 2005).
Edition + Condition: Generally very good or better. Medium contrast images tending towards sepia tones.
Item No: #363568
Price: $3,250