Young Man and His Buggy (Original Photo)

Late 19th or turn-of-the-20th century original photographic print of a teen/young adult driving a horse-drawn carriage.

We have a large collection of images taken by the itinerant photographers that traveled across all of upstate New York. They’re usually formulaic and comprised of an entire family and sometimes animals standing in front of their then new farm houses in broad day light. Not only are the compositions formulaic with individual family members oddly dispersed across the width of the scene rather than together, but their posture is unnaturally stiff and everything is in sharp focus. It sort of reveals that this was a mechanical rather than artful process of documentation and that the whole process was alien, not only to the subjects but also the photographers.

This image – one of three from a single group and roughly the same time period as the farm portraits – could not be more different. It has depth and richness and is filled with a glow that dissolves less important details and while emphasizing compositional queue’s that direct a viewer’s eye around the field.

In this image the photographer makes use of a vanishing point just past the image’s right edge to create a strong graphic dynamic. Everything (trees, road, fence) seems to be moving toward that vanishing point except for the horse, carriage and driver which are clearly moving away from that, even if stationary.

Proof that the photographer is keenly aware of composition, he has turned the horse and front wheels of the wagon away from the camera just slightly… enough to make certain that the sharp perspective doesn’t comically distort the horse but also to keep the entirety of his body in frame.

The whole scene is also photographed in the nearly full shade of surrounding trees. The result of this approach is that the subjects are shaped with a softer, diffused light that builds their volumes. Maybe even counter-intuitively, it’s the background that’s bleached white and featureless by the full blast of sunlight.

One of three from the same collection available separately.

The photo is mounted on its original gray backboard, but re-matted with archival board and re-framed under glass in a circa 1880’s gilt-lined, walnut frame.

Matted image size is 7-1/2 inches wide and 5-1/2 tall. Overall measurements are listed below.