Portrait photo of a seated child at Swindon, Wiltshire, England in the 1920s or 30s. The photographer was Fred C. Palmer of Tower Studio, Herne Bay, Kent ca.1905-1920, and of 6 Cromwell Street, Swindon ca.1920-1936. He is believed to have died 1936-1939.

Points of interest

• The child is seated on a piano stool (not a bench).
• The dress is hand-embroidered but is not new, and the hem has been arranged to show the new lace petticoat.
• The child has been ringleted for the photograph, and her lips are possibly rouged for the same reason, but her shoes reveal much outdoor activity.
• She has been given a metal object to distract her - possibly a silver baby rattle - but the stuffed toy beside her appears to be a favourite comforter; it has one eye missing.
• Palmer has caught the child's face at a classically beautiful angle, showing his experience and professionalism. Due to the cost of materials during the Great Depression, Palmer could not have allowed himself many attempts at this photograph.

The remaining border of this image is important for researchers of this photographer. Some photographers trimmed their images more than others, and Palmer has a reputation for producing smaller postcards than other early 20th century UK photographers. He took his own photos, developed them in-house onto postcard-backed photographic paper and trimmed them himself. It is worth adding that during hand-developing the border is actively masked with equipment which both crops the picture and causes the white frame or border to appear on the paper. This frame is part of the design and is one of the reasons why the quality of Palmer's work is so interesting, and why there is an article and category for him on English Wiki. Researchers need to see exactly where the edge of the postcard is. In the case of this picture we don't have all of the border in shot, but we need to keep what remains, to appreciate the composition and the effect that the photographer wanted. Thank you for taking the time to read this.