The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 05, May 1891: An Illustrated MonthlyVarious
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, No. 05, May 1891: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
Everything would have gone well at this point, but the dog, which it
was intended should form an important adjunct to the picture, and
symbolically typify the sign of the house--"The Jolly Dog"--set up a
mournful howl, and made desperate efforts to get away from the range
of that uncanny instrument in front of him. However, the photographer
waited for a more favourable moment, and while the dog was considering
the force of his master's remarks, the exposure was successfully made.
The result was regarded as quite a _chef d'oeuvre_ in the eyes of those
who stopped to gaze at it as it hung in a place of honour in the window
of the little front shop.
The "reg'lar" East-enders, as distinguished from the foreign element,
were, indeed, very easy to please; but, unfortunately, they were not
the mainstay of the photographer's business. He must needs look for
other customers to eke out a living. And here his difficulties began.
He had to be careful not to take a certain low type of Jewish features
in profile, for the foreign Jew, once he has been acclimatised, does
not like to look "sheeny"; and the descendants of Ham--euphemistically
classed under the generic term of "gentlemen of colour"--were always
fearful lest their features should come out too dark. One young negro
who came to be photographed expressly stipulated that he should not be
made to look black. To obviate this difficulty, the photographer wets
his customer's face with water, so as to present a shiny appearance
to the lens of the camera, and a brighter result is thus secured. On
this particular occasion the ingenious dodge failed, and the vain young
negro loudly denounced it as representing him a great deal blacker
than he was in the flesh. Indeed, the tears sparkled in his eyes as he
protested that he was "no black nigger." There is a subtle distinction,
mark you, between a "nigger" and a "black nigger" in the mind of a
"coloured person," and no greater insult can be levelled at him than to
apply the latter epithet.
[Illustration: Too, too black.]
The tout's thoughts are soon distracted by the appearance of a German
fraulein, evidently of very recent arrival in England, who is admiring
the photos in the window. She is arrayed in a highly-coloured striped
dress, which is not of a length that would be accepted at the West-end,
for it reaches only to the ankles, and shows her feet encased in a
clumsy pair of boots. An abnormally large green umbrella which she
carries is another characteristic feature that seems inseparable from
women of this type.
The tout has a special method of alluring the women folk within the
studio. He has a piece of mirror let into one of the tinsel frames
which he carries in his hand as specimens. He holds this up before the
woman's face, and asks her to observe what a picture she would make.
This little artifice seldom fails to attract the women, whatever their
nationality, for vanity is vanity all the world over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account