William Lane - Gallery No1

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Carte-de-Visite Portraits by William Lane of Brighton : Gallery One

William Lane and the Carte-de-visite Portrait

William Lane (1818-1889) was one of the earliest portrait photographers in Brighton. There is evidence to show that William Lane was producing photographic portraits "taken on glass" (collodion positives) as early as 1852. By the end of 1853, William Lane had made arrangements for daguerreotype portraits to be taken at his Cheap Picture Frame & Photographic Apparatus Depot at 213 Western Road, Brighton. When Frederick Scott Archer's "collodion positive process" supplanted the daguerreotype in the early 1850s, William Lane began taking "Verreotype portraits" on glass at his "Photographic Gallery" in Western Road, Brighton.

By the early 1860s, the "carte-de-visite" (small albumen prints on card mounts the size of visiting cards - roughly 2 1/2 inches by 4 1/4 inches or 6.3 cm by 10.5 cm) had become the most popular format for portrait photography. William Lane quickly established his own Carte de Visite Company at 213 Western Road, Brighton. William Lane managed the Carte de Visite Company at 213 Western Road for a year or so up until 1862, the year he moved his studio to 401/2 North Street, Brighton. Around 1863, William Lane established a new studio at Talbot House, 32 Queens Road, Brighton.

Over the 15 years between 1863 and 1877, William Lane and his photographic operators produced thousands of carte-de-visite portraits. The standard of photography at the Talbot House studio was variable. In the early 1860s, the technical and artistic quality was particularly high, as shown in the portrait on the right, (William Lane might have employed top class photographic artists from London during this period), but from the late 1860s onwards there was a steady decline in the standard of photography at Lane's Queen's Road studio. Judging by the appearance of the sitters in his later portraits, William Lane had lost the custom of people of rank and was obliged to take cheap photographic portraits of ordinary working class men and women. (See William Lane : Gallery Two)

[ABOVE] Portrait of a Young Woman by William Lane, Photographer, Talbot House, 32 Queens Road, Brighton (c1864). 
 PHOTO: Courtesy of Jim Willows, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
 

Carte-de-Visite Portraits by William Lane

[ABOVE] A portrait of an elderley woman seated at a table, photographed by the Carte de Visite Company, 213 Western Road, Brighton  (c1861). The Carte de Visite Company was managed by William Lane during the period 1861-1862. [ABOVE] A portrait of a stout woman seated at a table photographed by William Lane of 213 Western Road, Brighton (c1862). The Brighton photographer William Lane was based at 213 Western Road, Brighton from 1853 to 1862. [ABOVE] A portrait of a young woman standing by an elaborated decorated cabinet, a carte-de-visite photograph by William Lane of Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton (c1865). [ABOVE] A woman in profile reading a letter at her writing desk, a carte-de-visite photograph by William Lane of Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton (c1863). The Brighton photographer William Lane moved to 32 Queens Road, Brighton in 1863.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of the Carte de Visite Company, 213 Western Road, Brighton  (c1861). The Carte de Visite Company was managed by William Lane during the period 1861-1862. [ABOVE] The trade plate of William Lane of 213 Western Road, Brighton (c1862). William Lane began taking carte-de-visite portraits at 213 Western Road, Brighton in 1861.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of William Lane of Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton (c1865). William Lane operated from 32 Queens Road from 1863 until 1879.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of William Lane of Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton (c1863). William Lane operated from 32 Queens Road from 1863 until 1879.

 

Carte-de-Visite Portraits by William Lane of Brighton : Gallery Two

To view examples of the photographic work of William Lane of Brighton, click on the Gallery links below

William Lane of Brighton : Gallery One

William Lane of Brighton : Gallery Two

Click here to return to William Lane - Early Brighton Photographer  Part One [1852-1861]

Click here to return to William Lane - Early Brighton Photographer  Part Two [1861-1889]

Click here to go to a History of Photography in Brighton, 1841-1910

 

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