19th CENTURY CARD PHOTOGRAPHS
in AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Cartes de Visite & Cabinet photos
WANTED TO BUY:

I am interested in obtaining cartes de visite and cabinet photographs taken in Australian and New Zealand studios to add to my collection and to assist in my research into early photographers.

I will buy photos on any topic including plain family portraits, famous people, streetscenes, buildings, ships etc. either singly, in bundles or in original albums.  As one of the biggest private collectors of these items in Australia I guarantee to pay an excellent price, better than you are likely to be offered by a dealer or obtain at auction.

I am also willing to renumerate people who spot such items in local auctions, junk shops, antique shops etc. for letting me know of items for sale or for purchasing such items on my behalf.



This site is intended to chronicle some aspects of the nineteenth century card photographs and photographic history in Australia and New Zealand.  The classification card photograph includes two of the most popular forms of nineteenth century image, namely the carte de visite (cdv) and the cabinet photo.  Another extremely popular card photograph, the stereoscopic photo, had a different purpose in that it was generally not a format for portraiture, but instead was used for landscapes, natural and artistic subjects and it was generally sold as a commercial product.  It is not covered here but there are societies for stereoscopic photography affiscionados and there are a number of books on the subject if stereo photography and the collecting of stereoscopes.  The carte de visite was a ubiquitous object which saw massive penetration into Victorian society yet it currently remains somewhat enigmatic, being overshadowed by it's more glamorous ancestor the daguerreotype, and it's diplopic cousin the stereoscope.

I have collected cdvs and cabinets avidly for 9 years now, concentrating on Australian and New Zealand studios and I have concurrently researched the photographers who made them.  I hope others will enjoy sharing a little of the rewards I derive from collecting card photos, an obsession referred to in the 19th century as cartophilia.



Cabinet photo 4"x6½" of Brisbane photographer 
Berta Mobsby (daughter of Henry Mobsby) c.1888
 
The CDV in Australia
The CDV in New Zealand
The CDV Tintype
Cabinet Photographs
Books on card photographs
Links


This site is run by Marcel Safier, Brisbane, Australia.  You can e-mail me at msafier@ozemail.com.au
It was created 6 August 1997 and last updated 3 February 2002