[Woman white dress]

Elijah Hart ( - 1893)

Commercial photographer, arrived from Liverpool in 1852. Hart set himself up in Sydney giving his address as 156 Elizabeth Street. He then moved to new premises at 481 George Street in 1853. He then closed his Sydney premises moving to West Maitland in 1857. In 1862 he took over Mrs Dewy's photography studio in Newcastle while still running his Maitland business. In December of 1873 Hart announces that he has disposed of his interest in the photographic business to Arthur Curtis and Hart’s new toy and fancy repository store is opened next door to the portrait gallery. Hart continues in this business (known as the Rocking Horse Toy and Fancy Warehouse) until 1876, with the ‘commodious premises’ then being leased to the government for use as the post office. He died in 1893 at Woollahra, Sydney, aged 72.

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Albumen Print (1850 - 1900)

Was a photograph made using albumen paper, popular for photographic printing between 1850 and 1900. Thin paper was coated with a layer of egg-white (albumen) containing salt and sensitised with a silver nitrate solution, then printed using daylight under a negative. The resulting paper had a smooth surface with a fine sheen. Albumen prints could be toned with a gold solution which gave a rich purplish-brown colour to the image and reduced the risk of fading. During the mid c.19th.

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Carte-de-visite ( 1854 - 1900) (1854 - 1900)

Were small cards, the size of a formal visiting card about 114mm x 63mm, with an albumen paper print photograph attached. They were invented in 1854 by A.A.E. Disderi. The backs of the cards were normally printed with the photographer's name, address and insignia.

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