The CDV itself is rather unremarkable – in average condition, anonymous subject. What caught my attention, though, was the notation by Mr. Hanson in the lower left of the verso – “Formerly with Brady, New York”. This is the first CDV I’ve seen where the photographer marketed himself as having worked for the celebrated master, Mathew Brady. I don’t know if any of Brady’s other camera operators/studio assistants ever marketed themselves this way, but it’s a fascinating find.
I’ve found some more photographers to add to the map of New York. Again, you’ve got to love some of these self-descriptions of their businesses. Also interesting is the case of C.D. Fredericks, who ran studios in New York, Paris and Havana. Makes you wonder how he managed three studios in such far-flung cities at a time where steam-powered trans-atlantic crossings were just coming in to being, there was no telephone, and the airplane was still an opium-smoker’s dream.
I’ve reorganized the list in geographic order, with the assorted Lower Manhattan addresses first, then the ascent of Broadway, followed by the odds and outliers, including one in Brooklyn.
| STUDIO NAME | ADDRESS | DATES OF OPERATION |
| R.A. Lewis | 152 Chatham Street * | unknown |
| R.A. Lord | 164 Chatham Street * | unknown |
| K.W. Beniczky | #2 New Chambers Street, corner of Chatham * | unknown |
| Vaughan’s Gallery | 228 Bowery | unknown |
| H. Merz | E. Houston & Essex Streets | unknown |
| Bailey’s Photograph Gallery | 371 Canal Street | unknown |
| O.O. Roorbach, Publisher of Dramatic Photographs | 122 Nassau Street | unknown |
| Mathew Brady | 643 Bleeker Street | (1859-1860) |
| Jaquith, Daguerrian Parlor | 98 Broadway | unknown |
| S.A. Holmes, Daguerreotype Studio | 289 Broadway | unknown |
| Josiah Thompson, Daguerreotypist | 315 Broadway | 1849-1853 |
| J. Gurney & Sons, Daguerreotype Studio | 349 Broadway | unknown – early |
| Mathew Brady | 359 Broadway | (1853-1859) |
| Bogardus | 363 Broadway | 1860s |
| E. Anthony, Publisher, Brady’s National Portrait Gallery | 501 Broadway | unknown |
| W.C. Wemyss, Dealer in Photographs, Books, &c. | 575 Broadway | unknown |
| C.D. Fredericks & Co 587 Broadway, New York 31 Passage du Havre, Paris 108 Calle de la Habana, Havana |
587 Broadway | unknown |
| Anson’s Daguerreotype Gallery | 589 Broadway | unknown – 1850s |
| Chas. K. Bill | 603 Broadway | unknown |
| J. Gurney & Sons | 707 Broadway | unknown – mid |
| Mathew Brady | 785 Broadway | (1860-) |
| Glosser | 827 Broadway | unknown |
| Bogardus | 872 Broadway | late 1870s |
| T.J. Maujer, Passepartout & Carved Walnut frame manufacturer, Dealer in Photographs, Artist’s Materials, &c. | 953 Broadway & 183 5th Avenue | unknown |
| J. Gurney & Sons | 5th Avenue & 16th Street | unknown – late |
| Loud’s Celebrated Album Cards | unknown | unknown |
| Fernando Dessaur | 145 8th Avenue | unknown |
| Estabrook’s Ferrotypes | 379 Fulton Street, Brooklyn | unknown |
* addresses no longer exist. New Chambers Street & Chatham Street are now approximately where New York City Civic Center and Police Headquarters are now located.
I’m going to the large format club meeting tonight. This will be our first meeting of the year, and in a new space, the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda. Tonight’s theme is marketing your work. I’m hoping it will go well – we’re mostly a bunch of artists with day jobs so self-promotion is nobody’s strong suit. I’ll be talking about Facebook and this blog, however, as I think that not only are they important, but I think they’ve been fairly successful for me as marketing tools.
UPDATE:
At the club meet, we didn’t have a discussion of marketing after all, but rather we got a demo of doing emulsion lifts and recovering the negative from Fuji instant film. While I don’t know how well you can print from the Fuji instant film negative, especially color, it is recoverable. Furthermore, it is possible to lift the emulsion off the print. It used to be that this only worked with Polaroid instant film, but not Fuji, but apparently that is no longer the case. Here you can see the emulsion lift working –
