The American Journal of Photography, Vol. XI, No. 7, July 1890

In this richly detailed installment of a late‑19th‑century photography journal, listeners are introduced to a striking frontispiece: a solid‑profile portrait of the nation's first president, rendered from a 1795 miniature by Samuel Folwell. The narration explains how the image traveled from a private gift to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and why the publication chose it to herald the upcoming Photographic Association convention in Washington. Along the way, the piece reveals the curious methods early photographers used to capture silhouette likenesses, from tracing lamp shadows on walls to delicate scissor cuts.

The second half expands the story into a broader cultural essay, linking the humble outline to ancient Greek tales of coal‑drawn shadows and clay modelling. It examines how these simple contours seeded later artistic movements such as bas‑relief and modern portraiture, while also confronting the puzzling difficulties European artists faced reproducing such profiles. Listeners will appreciate a thoughtful blend of art history, technical curiosity, and reverence for a forgotten visual language.