50 – Mr and Mrs in Italy

In today’s episode, it’s a special trip to Italy to celebrate a married couple who happened to be professional photographers in the late 19th century.



Notes

Photo of Pope Leo XIII by the Conjugi Cane Studio in Rome, Italy, circa late 1800s.

Cabinet Card of Pope Leo XIII (McIntyre-Culy Collection)
Cabinet Card of Pope Leo XIII (McIntyre-Culy Collection)
Back of Cabinet Card of Pope Leo XIII (McIntyre-Culy Collection)
Back of Cabinet Card of Pope Leo XIII (McIntyre-Culy Collection)

 


 


Transcript

You’re listening to Photographs, Pistols & Parasols.

Support for this project is provided by listeners like you. Visit my website at p3photographers “dot” net for ideas on how you, too, can become a supporter of the project.

*****

Welcome to Photographs, Pistols & Parasols, the podcast where we celebrate early women artisan photographers.

I’m your host, Lee McIntyre.

In today’s episode, it’s a special trip to Italy to celebrate a married couple who happened to be professional photographers in the late 19th century.

For more information about any of the women discussed in today’s episode, visit my website at p3photographers.net.

That’s letter “p”, number “3”, photographers “dot” net.

*****

Hi everybody. Welcome to the new Year here at Photographs, Pistols & Parasols.. I hope you’re having a wonderful winter holiday season!

In today’s episode, I have something special. My husband Chris and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary at the moment, and to do so, we’re heading to one of our favorite places — Verona, Italy.

But, since it is our wedding anniversary that we’re celebrating, what better way to mark the occasion than a husband and wife couple who ran a photography studio in the 1800s.

And … even better .. their studio was in Rome, Italy.

Now, Chris and I haven’t done research on them yet, except for just a quick hunt looking for information around the internet. And what we discovered is that the Cab card we recently purchased by them is a photo of a subject for which they are well-known.

Because the subject was also famous: I’s a photo of Pope Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878-1903.

I discovered a few fun facts (on Wikipedia, though) about Pope Leo, including:

– Leo XIII was the first pope to be born in the 19th century (1810)
– He was the first pope to die in the 20th century (1903)
– He lived to the age of 93, which makes his the longest-lived pope ever (as of 2019).

Pope Leo XIII also worked to encourage an understanding between the Church and the modern world, and the Wikipedia article notes that he was the first whose voice was recorded on a sound-recording, as well as the first filmed by a motion picture camera. ‘

For his still photographs, he patronized several studies, but he went repeated back to the Conjugi Cane Studio. The photograph that my husband and I bought was clearly intended to be sold as copies to the faithful – and tourists in general – there in Rome. [There is at least one later photo of Pope Leo that was also taken by the Conjugi Cane, but unfortunately we haven’t managed to track down any more information on the photographers themselves However, always fun to run across a husband and wife duo running a photography studio!]

Anyway, just a little something different today, outside the usual North American early women artisan photographers that are profiled here on the podcast.

As always, you’ll find the photo of Pope Leo XIII by the Conjugi Cane on my website at p3photographers.net. That’s letter “p”, number “3”, photographers “dot” net.

If you have any questions or just want to drop me a line, write to podcast “at” p3photographers.net.

Or, remember you can follow Photographs, Pistols & Parasolson Facebook at facebook.com/p3photographers.

So that’s it for today. I’ll be back next month to bring you another story or two about our regular subject, early women artisan photographers from North America.

Until next time, I’m Lee, and this is Photographs, Pistols & Parasols.