Plate taken from 'Illustrated London News'. Photography was becoming les expensive and consequently increasingly popular. The travelling photographer here is charging one shilling per portrait. The carte-de-visite was a type of photography that became hugely popular in around 1860. It comprised a studio portrait photograph on a piece of mounted card with the photographer's name and addres printed either at the base of the image, or on the rear of the card. Cartes were inexpensive because up to six exposures could be obtained from a single large-format negative.
© Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library