"Cartomania"
With
the growing popularity of the cdv portrait, High Street photographers
experienced an increased demand for their services. A top London
studio could expect, on average, around 30 sitters a day, although
in the summer months the figure could be higher. In May 1861,
Camille Silvy's London studio recorded 806 customers for that
month alone. A provincial photographer reported that "fifteen
in a morning was considered a good day's work, although in the
summer it often rose to twenty-five."
Benjamin Botham arrived in Brighton to set up a photographic
portrait studio around 1861. When he decided to sell his studio
seven years later in order to begin a new career as the proprietor
of the Oxford Theatre of Varieties, he passed on nearly 10,000
negatives to his successor.
The demand for carte de visite portraits led to a further
growth in the number of portrait studios in Brighton.In
1858, there were around 16 photographic studios in Brighton. By
1862, when the carte de visite craze was taking off, the number
of portrait studios in Brighton had risen to 21. Lane's Photographic
Portrait Rooms at 213 Western Road became the photographic studio
of The Carte de Visite Co., with William Lane acting
as manager. At the height of the cdv craze in 1867, there was
a total of 37 studios in Brighton, most of which were supplying
cdv portraits.
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High
Street Photographers from London
