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John Thomson
An aged Cypriote
1878 (taken)
Woodburytype
8.4 x 11.4 cm
Cambridge University Library, Royal Commonwealth Society
RCSPC-COBHAM-Y3018A-019
LL/86633
A view showing an aged woman with her arm round a young girl. The portrait is in Thomson's 'Through Cyprus with the camera, in the autumn of 1878' (vol.1, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1879). Thomson's comments give an instructive insight into the difficulties of photography with bulky equipment and long exposures: 'Any attempts to photograph the fleeting expression of sentiment in the human face is almost certain to fail; nevertheless, a chance shot with the camera secured for us the accompanying pleasing picture - one which conveys something of the feelings that crossed the mind of the aged dame as she caressed the pretty little Greek girl who stands by her side' (vol.1, p.18).
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