Tintype of Man in Granny Outfit, Bonnet & Smock, Knitting. Rare & Unique Image. For Sale

Where to begin? Perhaps I should start with my taste in collecting early photographs, which is eclectic. I've often been attracted to images that are, to use a film metaphor, slightly unsprocketed. You know, images that aren't straightforward and resist being "read" in favor something a bit more suggestive. Photos that rupture and upend norms, or that seek to subvert tradition by indirectly poking fun at it. Which brings me to this insanely odd tintype. Just think about how many 19th century images you've seen of elderly women in widow's weeds or mourning dress. Tens of thousands were produced. All the same. All very somber, all very humorless and uncharitable. Now consider for a moment this image of a man dressed to the hilt in a traditional granny costume. It's absurd. And hysterical. It works against tradition and hits the viewer in a different way. It's like a visual gut punch to Victorian mores and attitudes. I've had it in my collection for over twenty-five years and one of the conclusions I've drawn is that he must have been a comedian, or at the very least a performer. And by extension this image might be considered a very early example of creative portraiture. Granted this isn't the same caliber of creative portraits that Nadar made when he photographed the cultural elite of Parisian society. In fact, I've always thought of it as being part of a later trend: the snapshot aesthetic. It's more vernacular and certainly more modern than anything of the period. Imagine it as one of the four frames on the strip from a photo booth and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about. This man is totally self-aware. He's in on the joke. And he wants you to be in on the joke too. Meaning there's nothing elitist, rarified or serious about this tintype. And unlike the bulk of 19th century portraiture where tradition dictated that one didn't smile in a photograph, this man seems to be doing everything in his power not to crack up. He can hardly contain himself. That toothless grin is what gets me every time. And the props are perfect: the oversized smock, the crudely trimmed bonnet, the knitted scarf and, in what I consider a perfect touch, that strand emerging between ring and pinky into that ball of yarn in his lap. It's just too much. Joking aside though, this is a very unique image, rare in fact in the history of 19th century photography. And a must for any serious collector. 

Condition: slightly darker and less contrasty than the image shows here. Also there's no whitening at the bottom of the image. That's just iphone pollution. Measures roughly 4 x 2 3/4 inches.