From 1850 onwards, photographers were able to widen their clientele by taking family photos. A long exposure time was required and when infants were involved, artisan photographers had the idea of getting them to pose on their mother’s knee to keep them still. In order to capture an image of the child only, elaborate schemes were dreamed up to hide the mother by covering her with sheets that sometimes melted into the studio background. Most of these shots are no longer framed, leaving strange-looking photographs belonging to a genre known by collectors as Hidden Mother.
Venue