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This unusual approximately 4.5 x 3.5 inch photograph gives a remarkably detailed look inside an early institutional projection booth. Multiple pieces of projection equipment are visible on stands, along with projection openings in the wall, electrical connections, cabling and large floor-mounted power units.
An exact matching reference image located during research identifies this scene as the projection booth of the Easton Public Library in Easton, Pennsylvania, and specifically identifies the equipment as a Power’s No. 5 Cameragraph together with a biunial carbon-arc magic lantern slide projector.
The Power’s Cameragraph No. 5 was manufactured by the Nicholas Power Company of New York during the early motion-picture era. Museum examples of the No. 5 date to approximately 1906, making this an especially interesting surviving image of early cinema technology in actual institutional use rather than a studio or catalog photograph.
The Easton Public Library’s Carnegie-era building opened in the early 20th century, and this photograph appears to document the library’s use of then-modern projection technology during the formative years of motion pictures and educational film exhibition.
The photograph is likely from the 1910s, although an exact date is not known.
The reverse is blank but retains extensive old mounting/adhesive residue from previous display or album mounting. The front has normal age-related toning and wear but retains excellent equipment detail.
A particularly strong historical image for collectors of:
early motion pictures and cinema history; antique film projectors; Power’s Cameragraph equipment; magic lanterns; carbon-arc projection; photographic and optical technology; Carnegie/public libraries; Easton and Pennsylvania history; and early 20th-century industrial technology.
This is an original period photograph, not a modern reproduction.
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