Trick Photograph, Self-Portrait, 1893
A photographer appears to be photographing himself in a photographic studio. Composite photograph showing a photographic studio interior. One man is seated on a stool near an adjustable clamp to hold his head steady during a long portrait exposure. The second man, standing next to a large view camera, looks like the person being photographed. In the late 19th century amateur and commercial photographers created images intended to astonish, amuse, and entertain. The photographs were altered using a variety of techniques, including multiple exposure (taking two or more pictures on a single negative), combination printing (producing a single print from elements of two or more negatives), photomontage, overpainting, and retouching on the negative or print. The meaning and content of the camera image was significantly transformed in the process of manipulation. Wheeler, Berlin, Wisconsin, 1893
