A domestic interior

A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman seated in a domestic interior. The portrait is relaxed and informal and in many ways it feels more like a 20th-century snapshot than a 19th-century portrait. The young woman seems to be turning towards the camera and her mouth is slightly open, as if she were saying something. Even more unusual is the young woman on the left, who has almost been cropped out of the photograph.

There's a sewing machine clamped to the table and the young woman on the right has a workbasket beside her on the floor. She seems to be working on the semi-transparent black veil which is draped across her lap.

Photographed by William Barton Micklethwaite, who operated two studios, one at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire and another at Newry in Ireland (now in Northern Ireland), which must have entailed a fair amount of travel.