Posted 8 years ago
rniederman
(343 items)
Images of photographers and their cameras are interesting additions to my collection. Many pictures typically show stoic looking practitioners standing proudly next to their beloved cameras. I have several examples posted here on CW. But every once in a while an unconventional image - much less a stereoview - appears. This particular stereoview of a photographer on a donkey holding a wooden field stereo camera is definitely unusual and brings a smile every time I look at it.
The stereoview, entitled “Chum and I”, was produced by the Sterro-Photo Co. in the 1890s. And poor old Chum doesn’t look all that happy having someone sitting bareback posing for pictures. It might have been inspired by the famous 1870s picture of William Henry Jackson’s assistant and mule laden with the photographer’s mammoth format view camera. Regardless, this borders on being a somewhat silly picture.
This stereoview is also an example of a very inexpensive production method. The original image was re-photographed with title information and then a single picture of the stereo pair was mounted on cardboard. This is the same way 1880s Goodwin Old Judge photographic baseball cards were produced and sold. (Another CW post of mine describes the production process in detail.)
I think the original image could be older than the Sterro-Photo Co. publication. A careful look at the camera shows glints of brass bindings on the standards and other distinctive design details. The camera appears to be a wetplate “view-box” made by the American Optical Company that was available from the 1870s to mid-1880s. Then again, the original image could be 1890s and the photographer kept the older camera.
This stereoview was also believed to be a portrait of the photographer C.L. Pond in Yosemite. At this time, I’ve been unable to find proof of this attribution and consider it an anonymous person.
Ohhh ... and it’s been a couple years since I put forth a caption contest challenge, and this picture definitely deserves witty commentary. So let your imaginations go crazy and have at it ... again ... it’s not a contest per se and the most enlightening / funny captions will be rewarded with recognition by your peers!
Great image. I agree a little silly, but a very uncommon and desirable subject matter!
Thanks for sharing.
scott
'A Bum Shot'.
Great post - laughing!
"but his legs are longer than mine!"
Love it --- This Photo should be called:
"...Me and my tired old A$$ ..." LOL
Thanks for sharing -- Great old Photo!!
I tried to give 2 loves but it didn't "take"! By the way, that's not a mule! Mules are really, really big! Think donkey, & we have plenty of them down in the islands.
Thanks, BB2 for the comment and info ... I changed the title and description to be a donkey!
Thanks for the comments, Scott!
Matthew Brady's foray into gold mining was less than successful.
Thanks!
kyratango
lisa
Thanks!
valentino97
Manikin
Thanks!
jscott0363
Radegunder
vetraio50
Thanks!
fortapache
blunderbuss2
Michael
Excellent image.
Thanks!
sanhardin
farmlady
David
I thought about it, but didn't mention it earlier. It's bad to ride on a donkey's back! Much better on the donkey to sit just over it's hind-side, just over their back legs. A local in St. Eustatius gave a Canadienne girl a donkey to ride. A friend explained about sitting on it's rump, &, of course, I added that it was better on the donkey, to face backwards! (Hey, that's me!). We got laughs for over a week!! True story!! LOL!!
Thanks!
Nicefice
ho2cultcha
snowman3
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mrcolorz
f64imager
Efesgirl
I've refrained from saying this, buy the humane way to ride a donkey is by sitting on it's rear haunches. This photographer obviously wasn't accustomed to riding donkeys & probably more of a comedy shot.
BB2 ... I appreciate your observations about the proper way to ride a donkey. I was thinking about it after the first time you mentioned it and realized the photographer didn't stage the picture correctly or, as you point out, it is a comedy pic. Anyhow, hopefully Chum lived happily on.
Oh! And don't forget facing to the rear. LOL!!
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Sean
verbatim
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leighannrn
shughs
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kyratango
Roycroftbooksfromme1
Thanks, ho2cultcha!
Thanks, egreeley1976!
Thanks, SpiritBear!
Thanks!
Radegunder
EricB