Mystic Seaport Museum to Open Photography Exhibition Jan 19

Mystic Seaport Museum to Open When This You See, Remember Me: The Photography of
Everett Scholfield and George Tingley January 19

Exhibition Invites Visitors to Explore and Experience Portrait Photography of the Late 1800s

Mystic, CT – Mystic Seaport Museum will open its latest exhibition, When This You See, Remember Me, Saturday, January 19, 2019. The show explores advances in photographic technology and techniques in late 1800s studio photography from the perspective of both the sitter and the photographer.

Based on thousands of portraits in the Museum’s collection by local Connecticut photographers Everett Scholfield and George Tingley, the exhibition also features their original backdrops, cameras, coupons, and ads. Scholfield and Tingley worked with bulky and often-complicated equipment. They captured images on fragile pieces of glass and then had to mix and work with chemicals to create photographs. Color photographs did not exist and they could not make enlargements; to make a large photo they had to make a very large glass negative.

“In this age of smartphones and selfies, when everyone has a camera in their pocket, it is hard to imagine what it was like when photography was new and sitting for a formal portrait was a big deal,” said Elysa Engelman, director of Exhibits at Mystic Seaport Museum. “This exhibition returns the visitor to that time and asks them to consider the ways in which photography has changed and ways in which it has stayed the same.”

Using a recreated set based upon artifacts from Scholfield’s studio, visitors will be able to take their own 19^th century-style portrait. They can practice composing a scene viewed upside down through a period camera, learn about the darkroom process, and experiment with props and poses. They then can take their own photo with their camera or smartphone.

Visitors will be encouraged to share their picture on social media with #MSMRememberMe and an Instagram feed of the resulting images will be streamed as part of the exhibition.

The two men’s overlapping careers spanned the years 1865-1930. Scholfield was an itinerant businessman and frequently moved to different locations around southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island, although he eventually settled in New London. Tingley spent the bulk of his career in Mystic. Framed photographs and an extensive slideshow brings visitors face-to-face with a diverse selection of people from those areas, including people of different backgrounds – African American, Asian, Native American – various occupations – woodcutter, postal worker, musician – and of all life stages, from infants to elders. Most of the subjects are not identified and visitors with local ancestors are invited to see if they can spot a relative in the show. Museum curators are hopeful the collection catalog can be expanded through the public exposure in the exhibition.

When This You See, Remember Me, will be located in the Museum’s R.J. Schaefer Building. It runs through April 28, 2019.

High-resolution images are available for download at https://bit.ly/2siWOnT. About Mystic Seaport Museum
Mystic Seaport Museum, founded in 1929, is the nation’s leading maritime museum. In addition to providing a multitude of immersive experiences, the Museum also houses a collection of more than two million artifacts that include more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography. The new Thompson Exhibition Building houses a state-of-the-art gallery that is showing Death in the Ice: The Mystery of the Franklin Expedition, a major exhibition of one of seafaring’s most mysterious tragedies through April 28, 2019. Mystic Seaport Museum is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. For more information, please visit www.mysticseaport.org and follow Mystic Seaport Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.