[Seated Man with Brattle Street Church Seen Through Window]

Photographers often went to great lengths to unite a particular sitter with a particular background. This distinguished-looking gentleman may have requested a view of Boston’s Brattle Street Church in the background of his portrait to emphasize his religious affiliations. Southworth and Hawes’s studio did overlook the church, but capturing both the figure and the view in clear focus would have been impossible in a single exposure. Instead, the photographers made two exposures on the same plate, masking the window portion when they photographed the sitter then covering the rest of the plate when they photographed the church tower.