These are scans of cyanotype prints that have been converted to grayscale in Photoshop. The original photographs were made by my Great-Great-Great Uncle, Jacob Ridgway Moore between June of 1897 and his death in September, 1901. The information that I have been able to uncover about the people and places that Ridgway photographed was only possible through the gracious help of a number of people, some by email, some by phone and some through information they published on the internet. I have corresponded with people from London to California and Canada to Florida. What I'm learning continues to evolve as new information becomes available. Thanks for taking the time to study this remarkable body of work.
UPDATE:June, 2006 - When I began work on this project in June, 2002, I believed that these photos were all that remained of JR Moore's photography. I was told by family members that when Moore died in September of 1901, all of his photography effects were given to his nephew, Vincent Irick, who lived in Vincentown, NJ. The photos I now have were sent to Ridgway's father's home (Vincent's Grandfather) on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. That home remained in our family until my Grandfather's death in 1984. My sister rescued the cyanotypes at that time and gave them to me in 2002, in the hope that I could find out something about them.
It was believed by my family that when Vincent Irick died in 1949, his widow destroyed all the photography "junk" of her husband, including all the prints, negatives and journals of his uncle, JR Moore. But in May of 2006, someone living in Vincentown donated a large box of film and glass plate negatives to the Southampton Historical Society. These negatives had been given to her husband many years before by Hector Irick, Vincent's brother. Unbelievably, the box contained most of Ridgway Moore's negatives and many taken by his nephew Vincent.
Through inscriptions on the negative sleeves, it became clear that the photos I have were actually selected, printed, numbered and captioned by Vincent following his Uncle's death. Vincent then took these prints, which included a number of his own (see the Vincentown Gallery) to his Grandfather's home in Virginia and left them with the family. This may explain the many non-consecutive numbering errors and mis-captioned photos that are in this collection.
I have only begun to study the inscriptions on the many negative sleeves and expect that information to greatly enhance my understanding of this collection.
Good to see these old photos from when photography was still in its infancy. They seem to have been taken more as a historical record of the family than any type of art form. You have my vote.
Sasha
22-Jun-2017 18:14
Hi, I have a book of privately published poems that might belong to Jacob Ridgway Moore, published in 1875. I can't read the inscription, but it's from his aunt in March of 1875. If you contact me, I can send pics. Interested to know more about him. My email is SashaSwaim@gmail.com.
Alvin Lederer
17-Oct-2006 01:58
Dear Sir, my name is Alvin Lederer and i'm a South Florida Historian. I am very interested in knowing if you have other images of Punta Rassa? I am not writing a book and will not share with others without your permission.
regards
alvin
(706) 232-6513