Thomas Le Clear, American
On This Day In Photography History: An English Pointer Named Sparky Pulls Off The First Photobomb, ca. 1865
Oil on canvas
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/// Back then, artists would voice this complaint:
“Photo portraits are no match for paint,
or a sculpture, or sketch,
or a print one could etch.”
Now, most see such distinctions as quaint.
/// When photography was a new thrill
there were drawbacks— you had to hold still.
Should some movement occur
you’d appear as a blur,
but to freeze, yet look lifelike, took skill.
/// In their pose, lacking humor or charm,
Parnell Sidway holds bother James’ arm.
They look stiff, ill-at-ease,
not inclined to say “cheese.”
Background artworks “observe” with alarm.
/// What at first appears true can be far
from the facts as they actually are.
A third sibling had paid
for this art to be made,
and the real story’s somewhat bizarre.
/// The two Sidways we see side-by-side
never posed for Le Clear, who relied
on daguerreotypes made
years ago. I’m afraid,
the sad fact is both siblings had died.