VISAGE Preserves Unique Early 1900s Photographs
Bonnie Davis has printed black and white silver gelatin photographs from her personal archive, which now include glass negatives made as early as 1891 in the Middle Tennessee and McMinnville, Warren County Tennessee area.
Originally part of the Brady-Hughes-Beasley Archive, these badly damaged negatives were transferred to Davis, a photography expert, in an effort to preserve them.
The glass negatives, which number in the thousands, require cleaning before printing to preserve the images. These unique images were deteriorating due to improper storage conditions over the years.
The Visage collection celebrates the artistic portraiture of the early 1900s with photos that use lighting techniques made famous by the Southern School of Photography, located in McMinnville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1928. For more information on this project, contact MTA at russel@middletennesseearts.com.
In 1896, Anthia Brady opened Hughes Studio in McMinnville, Tennessee. Her daughter, Willie Hughes, studied at the Southern School of Photography. Together they operated the studio for over 60 years.
Photo: Printed by Bonnie Davis in 1998 from glass negative (circa 1900) created by the Hughes Studio in McMinnville, Tennessee. From the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center's permanent collection. © Bonnie Davis.
