Her Mother's Glass
CDV-format albumen print showing a costumed woman holding a frame before the face of her daughter, creating the effect of a mirror image or portrait. English, circa 1870. Imprinted front "A Speaking Likeness."
The position of the mother's head in this image is well contrived to suggest the idea of a mirror reflection, and necessarily calls to mind the lines from Shakespeare's Third Sonnet:
Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime;
So thou through windows of thine age shalt see,
Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time.
View the full Introduction to
Multiple Exposure
Images and text copyright © 2014 by Christopher Wahren Fine Photographs