Saturday, November 22, 2014

Sepia Saturday - Turn of the Century Woman in Silhouette (Edwardian Era)

This past week I made my reentry into publishing blog entries after nearly a year and a half away.  It felt like meeting up with an old friend, one you haven’t seen in a long time, but fall right back into where you left off.  Today I return to another old friend, Sepia Saturday, who I have also greatly missed, and the wonderful people who post each week.

This week the subject is based around making silhouettes.  I had the perfect photos in mind, but of course, cannot find them.  A year ago my computer crashed (part of the reason I've been away so long) and when my son was helping purchase and set up my new equipment he insisted on putting all my carefully cataloged photos on an external hard drive while saying, “Mother, who keeps 40,000 photos on her C drive?”  Well, me of course.  The photos are now jumbled in a giant mess and I have neither the energy nor the expertise to efficiently organize them.


I finally decided on this photo of a very interesting "turn of the century" young woman in silhouette pose.  She is wearing a high-necked white blouse quite typical for the time and I love the poofy, flowery bow in her hair.  What really drew me to purchase this photograph was her spectacles – they help make her face so interesting.



The photographer was Elmer M. Enlow born in Lee Township, Athens County, Ohio on September 17, 1867 according to Jeffrey Weidman in his book, Artists in Ohio, 1787 - 1900:  A Biographical Dictionary.  According to Weidman, Enlow bought his studio from John C. Brannan in 1898 and was still active as of 1905.

I urge all my readers to click this link, Sepia Saturday, for more great photos and fascinating stories.



16 comments:

  1. Welcome back! That would make a charming silhouette indeed, but the spectacles could prove tricky!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Nell! Yes, it would be hard to incorporate the spectacles into a silhouette!

      Delete
    2. A lovely portrait. I look forward to more of your posts.

      Delete
  2. Welcome back to the land of blogging! I do like blogging and can identify with your feelings of returning to an old friend. Love the picture you chose too. It's very clear and one feels that the subject would have been very charming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Alex! Yes, she does look like she was lively and intelligent.

      Delete
  3. The photograph is lovely, but that high necked blouse would kill me. I can't stand to have anything near my neck which is a shame, because I'd love to be able to wear a soft turtle-necked blouse or sweater. Oh well. Yes, & welcome back to the fold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you - I love the look of the vintage clothing, but I'm always hot so could not abide high-necks, long sleeves and long skirts with voluminous petticoats. Plus I live in Florida where it is hot enough to start with!

      Delete
    2. Thank heaven for shorts, T-tops, & sandals (or bare feet)!

      Delete
  4. The spectacles make the photograph "interesting," but I think it would be more "attractive" without them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those glasses certainly give her that highly educated look. She has a pleasant expression.

    ReplyDelete
  6. She has a very artistic pose, perhaps a graduation photo. The Pince-nez style glasses were very popular with both women and men at the turn of the century I think in imitation of Teddy Roosevelt's spectacles. And very nice to have you back, Teresa.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Like quite a few of the images on view this week, it is a stunning photograph, So much of the personality of the sitter seems to be revealed by this fine photograph.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The spectacles are so delicate and just right for such an artistic picture.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very Roosevelt looking with those specs on.

    Recently a cousin and his wife was visiting. I was showing her photos and said I would scan them and send them to her. It was then I found out she kept ALL of her photos on her iPhone. I looked at her and said, "Are you freakin' kidding me?" I then gave her a lesson on drives failing and backups. I think I scared the heck out of her. She was anxious to get home and backup backup backup...

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's scary! Just to be clear, I had all mine backed up on an eternal hard drive, but kept everything on my main drive nicely categorized. Now they are sadly jumbled on the back up drive in no sensible order. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mine are jumbled too. Ten schemes for organizing have come and gone, leaving in their wake, even more jumble. The photo is a beauty. I love the glasses - can you still have these made somewhere? They actually seem very practical.

    ReplyDelete