Snapshots of the Past

White House orchids – Historic Reproduction

White House orchids, [between 1889 and 1906] — historic photograph
White House orchids, [between 1889 and 1906]. Historic photograph from the White House collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This rare historic photograph captures White House orchids in remarkable detail. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

White House orchids

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This cyanotype turns the White House's orchids into a study in blue and white, with the flowers' delicate forms standing out against the process's characteristic tones. Orchids were prized in the late 19th century, when hothouse cultivation made exotic blooms fashionable among wealthy households and public rooms. Frances Benjamin Johnston, a Washington photographer who documented the executive mansion and its surroundings around the turn of the 20th century, made the image. Cyanotype, an inexpensive early process that produces a cyan-blue print, was well suited to recording plants and interiors, and this picture shows how Johnston used it to capture the house's domestic life.

Created / published[between 1889 and 1906]
Medium1 photographic print : cyanotype.
GenreCyanotypes 1880-1910.
NotesForms part of: Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress).
SubjectsOrchids--Washington (D.C.)--1880-1910.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,096 × 3,265 px · prints to 14 × 11 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-206715

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