Cartes-de-visite, Camille Leon Louis Silvy, 1859 - 1890

albumen print, h 95mm × w 63mm More details

Cartomanie was a collecting craze. From 1855 hundreds of thousands of these portraits were annually sold worldwide. People had photographs taken of their loved ones, including their pets, and kept them in an album. Portraits of kings, writers, artists, actors, and statesmen were also collected. Photography was no longer the preserve of the wealthy; farmers and maidservants now also stood before the camera.