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[Portrait of a Couple at Niagara Falls in Waterproof Clothing]

Creator

Canadian Ambrotypist · 1840–1860

Very little is known about the career or life of Henry Hollister. Born in Vermont about 1831, he photographed primarily in the area around Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, in the 1860s and was listed as a photographer in that city's directories from 1864 to 1865. He made ambrotypes and stereograph views of the falls, probably for the tourist trade. The Getty Museum's collection is one of only two k

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Date: 1860s
Medium: Ambrotype
Culture: Canadian
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

Is it a honeymoon reverie that has brought this stalwart young couple precariously close to the edge of the falls, posing gamely for the photographer in their waterproof slickers? Taken from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and showing the spectacular cliff, Henry Hollister's portrait positions its subjects so that they are framed by the brilliant white foamy spray as the falls stream downward in silvery sheets. The man stands in partial shadow behind his companion, his hand placed firmly on her shoulder as if to steady and comfort her. The balled-up left fist lying in her lap suggests that she was not entirely at ease with their vertiginous positioning, but a tentative smile reveals her to be at least a good sport.

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