The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-11-28
A PHOTOGRAPHERS VIEWS
ED1PYINa INTERVIEW WITH A MAE
WHO TAKES PICTURES.
How People show Their Vanity He
fore the Observation-Disclosures OF
People who Have PictureSTaken'

WHO TAKES
How People Show Their Vanity He
fore the Observation-Disclosures OF
People who Have pictureSTaken,
"Fully threc-fOurths of all my pa
%trons," said Il photographer, 'arc women
and children, and about as many of them
are children as women. 4 large number
of the children are babies. If there are
any parents in this country with n baby
four weeks old and upward who have not
had its photograph taken am not aware
of the fact"
"To what extent do Cupid's opera
tions promote your trattic!'
"Just about onc-half of all my patrons
of both sexes have recently become en-
gagged to be married, and get their like
ncsscs taken with a view of tanning the
flame of affection in the hearts of the
persons to whom they are engaged.
"I'o what extent do the human family
appear to be proud Of their good looks?"
"Wcll, | have been in the photograph
business for twenty years, and | have yet
to meet with the first human being who
thought himself or herself homcly. Some
times when they come in here they say to
me: 'Of course you couldn't BIZ expected
to make Il handsome picture out of such Il
homcly person as | am But they say it
with Il smile, and show very plainly that
the remark isa piece of conventional alice
tation. Some of them arc plainly aware
of blcmishcs in their physiognomy and
personal appearance, but even they, when
they have struck a balance, feel hat there
is after all something attractive about
them"
"lIow do they show their vanity?'
"Wcll, some men have photographs
taken of their entire families every six
months, and it is Il common thing for
Young men in the vcaly state, say be-
tween sixteen and twenty-five years of
age, to have their likeness taken seven or
eight times in three years. Then they
show their vanity by the disappointment
with which they contemplate the first
negative. OF course the sunbcams have
limncd them and there can be no mis-
take, but they loudly insist that they
know they never looked like that This
feeling is so general that it led photog-
raphers to requiring pay in advance, as
before they did so not more than two
persons out Of five ever returned to get
their pictures"
"Then they are willing to take a flat
tcring picture"
Indeed they are, whether they are
handsome or homcly. Probably it will
surprise YOU to know that ten per cent.
of all the women who have their like
ncsscss taken in my gallery say to nc: 4
want a pretty picture; | don't care whether
it is like me or not And Il great many
more feel and act that way about it,
though they do not like to say it. l
never saw any men who were as greedy
for tlattcry as that, but never saw any
one who, like Cromwell, wanted to be
painted as he was. They are all perfectly
willing to have their facial blemishes
concealed. Indeed, it isa commO thing
for women to speak of the OBJECTIONS in
their countcnanccs and ask me pointcdly
whether l could take their likeness so as
to conceal these %repulsivc features. But
after all they are often more concerned
about their clothes than about their faces"
GLOW is that !
"Oh, about half the iikenesscs that arc
taken are taken because the lady has a
new dress in which she wishes to sit, and
one half the sittings are made because
the first sitting did not bring out the
glorics of that new dress or new hat.
Why. some of the women are so %infatua-
ted about this that they become indifferent
whether the picture is Il likeness or not.
| had a case not long ago in which the
lady wore Il rich brocade velvet dress.
She sat repeatedly to get the dress better
taken. At last | got the dress to take
magnificcntly, but to do so had to turn
her face almost entirely out of the mega
tive. That pleased her immensely, and
she took the picture without 4 moments
hesitation. The women feel the same
way about the clothes of their children.
I took a photograph of a baby the other
dav, and the mother insisted on the
whole of it's long dress appearing in the
picture. l put it all in, but to do so
/ had to minify the baby's head until it
could hardly be seen at all. In the
mothers mind, though, the likeness was
II grand success. Most ladies are anxious,
for the same reason, to have full-lcngth
pictures taken, though l reason a good
many of them down to Il thrcc-fourths
length. Gentlemen sometimes show the
same weakness, but not very often.
GLOW many people dislike to sit for
their likcncsscs!'
About onc-quartcr Of those who sit
at all dislike it, and say they only sub
nit to it at the request of friends. Some
times Il man drops in who informs me
that he would as soon have Il tooth drawn
as to sit for his likeness, but whcn'l offer
to draw his tooth instead Of taking his
likeness, as | always politely do, he in
variablv says he was only joking. l have
noticed that ladies over thirty-tivc years
old have an aversion to the process"
GLOW often do people sit before they
arc satisticd?'
"Colored people never sit but once
and are always pleased with the first neg
ativc, and the Germans are apt to be the
same about it. Men are easier to satisfy
than women, but most women like to sit
at least five times. They then almost in
variably select the first negative out of
the whole batch"
"Do they like to select their W
postures?" .
"Somc of them are very fond of
choosing their own posturcs and their
own accessories on the first sitting, and
they always make a botch of it. a girl
with a sharp, turned up nose, who has
spent most of her life over the wash-tub,
will sometimes insist on having Il profile
likeness and on being taken leaning
against the piazza pillar Of IN Oriental
palace because she has seen the likeness
of some rcigning belle taken i'll that way.
When she has one view of herself in that
fix, however, she very meekly resigns
herself into my hands to be arranged for
a second sitting. The artist himself is
always the best Judge of the point of
view for Il face, the posture O. the body
and the artistic surroundings. Nobody
will get a good picture who runs these
things to suit himself"
What Small Farms Have Done.