Hidden Mother : Tintypes and Cabinets
December 24, 2011 2:48 PM   Subscribe

 
Okay, those are pretty freaky...
posted by Windopaene at 2:53 PM on December 24, 2011


Sooo creepy...I like!
posted by MaryDellamorte at 2:54 PM on December 24, 2011


The ones with the attendant's face scratched out are the creepiest things ever.
posted by pinky at 3:00 PM on December 24, 2011


Fun! I think some of these are beautiful shots. I wonder how long the original exposures were - up to 20 seconds, says wikipedia.
posted by carter at 3:03 PM on December 24, 2011


I can only assume this mother makes up for her lackluster hiding skill by being deadly with the katana and shuriken.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 3:18 PM on December 24, 2011 [3 favorites]


Wow! Super creepy, thanks for an awesome post!
posted by yellowbinder at 5:05 PM on December 24, 2011


So awesome.
posted by feckless at 5:55 PM on December 24, 2011


This is one of those things you can never unsee, isn't it?
posted by lekvar at 6:53 PM on December 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


cool nightmare bro
posted by JingleButt_HiRes_REAL.gif at 7:20 PM on December 24, 2011


Eeeek.
posted by Glinn at 10:00 PM on December 24, 2011


I think what creeps me out the most about hidden mothers is when her face is scratched out before it is mounted in the case. If you look closely you might see circular, or oval shaped wear marks around the child. Why scratch out mom when she's going to be hidden by the frame?

I wonder how long the original exposures were

It depends on a couple factors. The age of the salted collodion which goes from being pretty lacklustre and slow when first mixed to quite fast with a lot tone back to being flat and slow. How much UV there is, since collodion is predominately UV sensitive with a bit of blue sensitivity thrown in and the lens being used. More than likely most of these were shot using a f3.6 petzval designed lens, but an f11 rapid rectilinear is a likely candidate too.

I've made exposures that were so short I wish I had a shutter for my petval in the middle of summer under clear skies in full shade that were about a second long (as fast as I could pull my hand away from the lens and put it back again) to ones that are two minutes long in mid winter when the clouds are so thick I have to turn on lights in the house in the middle of the afternoon. For me exposures any longer than that and the collodion starts to dry out (the plate needs to stay wet for image formation to work) ruining the plate. I've seen others mention three and four minute long exposures to make their images.
posted by squeak at 7:31 AM on December 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is for those of you who wonder who your child is babbling to when she's (seemingly) all alone in her room.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 8:02 PM on December 25, 2011


Totally creepy, kind of cool idea, and I've always wondered about that weird draping in those old photos. LOL Now I know.
posted by _paegan_ at 7:52 PM on December 27, 2011


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