[Vokes Family, New York]

Art Historical Context

In the 1870s, amid New York's bustling Gilded Age, photographer Jeremiah Gurney captured theokes Family in this intimate albumen silver print from a negative. Measuring just 13.7 x 9.2 cm, it exemplifies the compact carte de visite format, a photographic sensation that democratized portraiture for middle-class families. Gurney's on Broadway was a hub for such images, preserving personal moments with remarkable clarity and detail. The albumen process, using egg whites to bind light-sensitive silver salts to paper, produced the era's signature warm tones and fine grain—ideal for revealing subtl...