London’s Poor in the 1800s: Work, Hunger and Survival
Discover how London’s poor survived in the 1800s, from street markets and casual work to hunger, disease and the workhouse, through six historical photographs.
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Discover 7 Stories Behind Vintage Mugshots
7 Faces. 7 Crimes. 7 Stories From the Past. These seven haunting mugshots come from the Inmate Photograph Collection on PICRYL, capturing the faces of men who were convicted of robbery during the 1910s and 1920s. Look closely at their expressions, their eyes, and the faces staring back at the camera. Some appear defiant, others…
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Unknown Swedish Girl. c.1890–1900.
Unknown Little Girl from Sweden, c.1890–1900: A Forgotten Child in Folk Dress Brought Back to Life Some old photographs stop you immediately. Not because they show a famous person, a grand house, or a major historical event, but because of the quiet human presence inside them. This portrait of an unknown little girl from Sweden,…
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Mary Hale? A Historical Portrait Reimagined
Source image: the sepia portrait used as the starting point for this project. What is known about this portrait? This portrait has been published here under the name Mary Hale. The sitter’s identity, the photograph’s date, and its location have not been independently verified for this article. The name should therefore be treated as an…
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Dr. Hermann Rorschach and the Inkblot
It’s 1910. The world of psychiatry is being utterly remade by the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and the pioneering work of Carl Jung and Eugen Bleuler. Yet, amidst the flurry of new ideas focusing on dreams and word associations, a young Swiss psychiatrist is turning his attention to a most unexpected tool: the simple…
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Unknown Handsome Man From the 1850’s
A Glimpse Into the Mid-19th Century This portrait of an unknown man, likely taken in the 1850s or 1860s, is a striking example of early photography. It’s housed in an ornate case with a decorative brass mat, a style commonly used with daguerreotypes and ambrotypes of that era. These photographs were treasured possessions, often displayed…
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The Most Beautiful Woman I Have Ever Seen
Frances Virginia (Lee) Harris I came across her portrait in the Florida State Archives and could not look away. The young woman in the photograph had a gaze that seemed to pierce straight through time. Her name was Frances Virginia “Fannie” Lee Harris. She was born on June 15 1886 in Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia, and passed…
