IN THE ALLEY! The gent handling this magnificent animal knew exactly how to manage his grip to insure that the archivally taped half plate daguerreotype would present to us such a powerful and impressive view. The horse was relatively stationary but the man moved slightly above his waist. This image was taken in open shade and would have required a minimum 10-15 second exposure. Looking past the subjects to the right, my own photographic training begs me to ask, “why didn’t the daguerreian move them 10 feet in that direction to eliminate the ugly whitewashed piece of board leaning against a drain pipe? The placement does not alter the facts one whit. There was a genius behind the camera to obtain such a brilliant outdoor portrait. When the piece is turned to the negative, a few white stains are seen in the lower left quarter that was caused by the decayed glass. There is a nearly invisible “touch mark” on the horse’s neck, one visible brown spot and a few mold spiders. Casey will make a new leather spine on the case. Inside, a lovely design was pressed into the red velvet cushion.
