Cranston Family Photographs

[Untitled], circa 1890, V1994.013; Cranston family papers and photographs; Brooklyn Historical Society.

The photo of the week depicts a scene from the interior of the Cranston family home around 1890 in what is today the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. This photograph offers a glimpse into late 19^th- century middle-class domestic life in Brooklyn, and it’s also an example of early flash photography.

Alfred Cranston (pictured sitting) served with Engine 17 of Brooklyn’s Volunteer Fire Department as a young man, and later fought in the Civil War from 1861 to 1864. Cranston married Elizabeth Hollington Petford in 1864, following his discharge. They had three children: Alfred, Henrietta, and Ella Maude. They resided at 524-526 Quincy Street. Cranston is featured prominently in the Personal Correspondents exhibition at Brooklyn Historical Society. The exhibit includes several of his civil war letters, including drawings he sent to Elizabeth during their engagement.

This photograph comes from the Cranston family papers and photographs collection. Many of the photographs in the collection were taken by Ella Maude Cranston, an amateur photographer. It is likely, but not certain, that this is one of Ella’s photographs. The family is pictured at home in their parlor. If you look closely, you can see that the quality of the light in this photograph is fairly harsh and flat. This is likely from the type of artificial light used to illuminate the space for this photograph. In the late 19^th century, flash photography was relatively new. Magnesium ribbons were introduced in the 1860s as a means to create artificial light for photographs. Special lamps were developed that would dispense the magnesium ribbon in a clockwork fashion. While magnesium was not widely used for professional portraiture, the manual, hand-held mechanisms were used by amateur photographers into the 1920s. To see more photographs from this collection, including other artificially lit portraits, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org