Before image filters and digital backdrops added depth and interest to photographs, placing subjects in exquisite settings, there were hand-painted backgrounds for photography studios. Beginning in the mid-1800s, decorative backgrounds worked at the intersection of traditional painting and the new technology of photography. These examples are from a 1908 catalog of backgrounds by Messers. Packard Brothers and sold by the Robey-French Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, which was later owned by the Eastman-Kodak conglomerate.
Typically painted with tempera or chalk on sailcloth or raw cotton duct fabric, these backdrops were offered in sizes from 5 x 6 feet to 9 x 12 feet. Smaller sizes were suitable for close-up or three-quarter portraits. A photographer could add a 7-foot floor extension, coated in either watercolour or more durable oil paint, to enhance the overall effect for full-length portraits.
A 19th century painted backdrop
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