Vignette portrait of a woman. Adelaide, circa 1864.

A$100 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 104 x 64 mm (mount); verso with the imprint of Geo. J. Freeman, Photographist. 97, Hindley Street, Adelaide, S. A. ; both print and mount are in very good condition. A rare early example of a carte de visite studio portrait by George J. Freeman. From Gael Newton s excellent biographical sketch of Freeman in the DAAO : George John Freeman professional photographer and photographic showman, was born on 17 January 1843 in London, son of George Freeman, a trader in base metals, and Eliza, née Alderson. He arrived at South Australia on 3 January 1861 in the Countess of Fife , travelling with his father and step-mother Selina, née Hague. He had experimented with photography as a youth at Bayswater School and had perhaps followed this up with some professional experience in London, for almost straight away he established a photographic studio in Hindley Street, Adelaide, in partnership with another young photographic hopeful, Edward Belcher. Their partnership was to continue, on and off, for several years: at 97 Hindley Street from 1861 (although Freeman was sole proprietor from 1864) and opposite the Adelaide Town Hall in 1866-67 (called the Town Hall Photographic Gallery in 1867). Freeman seems always to have been less interested in the bread-and-butter side of the photographic business than his erstwhile partner. Throughout his professional career he enthusiastically experimented with the latest processes and techniques, at times

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.