Portrait of Telephone Pole Linemen
c. 1910
Medium
albumen print (cabinet card)
Dimensions
image/sheet: 14.1 × 9.9 cm (5 9/16 × 3 7/8 in.) mount: 16.5 × 10.8 cm (6 1/2 × 4 1/4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
The Ross J. Kelbaugh Collection
Accession Number
2023.146.139
Art Historical Context
This striking *Portrait of Telephone Pole Linemen*, an albumen print cabinet card from around 1910, captures a group of American workers posed confidently atop utility poles, tools in hand. Produced by an anonymous 19th-century American photographer, the image measures a compact 14.1 × 9.9 cm on its mount, typical of the cabinet card format popular, affordable portrait style from the late 1800s that democratized photography for everyday people and professions. Albumen prints, coated with egg whites for their luminous detail and warm tones, were a hallmark of 19th-century photography, bridging...
About the Artist
American 19th Century
The artist cataloged as "American, 19th Century" represents a collective of unidentified painters active in the United States during the nineteenth century, with 380 known artworks preserved in this virtual museum's collection. These works span a diverse array of genres typical of the era, including portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre scenes, reflecting the burgeoning artistic output of ...