Billy, as you can see, is disarmingly youthful and innocent looking. People during his day saw this too. By the time this picture was taken he had already killed a man, Francis "Windy" Cahill in a bar fight. You can decide how old he looks as well as I can. If you match this picture to the famous one that just sold for a jillion $ you can tell that this is the same fellow. Not his lips closed over his buck teeth, which distorts his jaw line a little. His clear, what were blue, eyes, wild wavy hair (the style of the time) full cheeks, long crooked nose and and narrow but full lips. All tintypes (Ferrotypes) are mirrow images, so here you see the kid backwards. The brow over his right eye was bent and over his left arched. Here you see them backwards.
He comes out nearly life sized! The original is very small, about the size of George Washinton's image on an old dollar bill. Tintypes if done well, had no grain, so they can be enlarged with clarity. Trouble is many are out of focus. The lens was huge and the depth of field narrow. Depending on the light/temperature the exposure was about ten seconds, so you seldom see one of these folks smiling. They were told to stare at something...the "birdie"?
Wow! Am I off topic! Sorry, but I was asked a question and I took off with it.
Most of the other pictures are as clear as this one of the kid. Others show the people in the distance or as old men and women. The collection that Sallie Chisum gathered were taken as events were unfolding, and therefore; show the people when they were in fighting trim. Many of them were killed. These pictures breath life into long dead and historically significant people. Giving life to history is the kind of thing that drives historians and fans of old and fine shotguns, wild.
Steve
|