Carte de visite by Frank Rowell of Boston, Mass. Colorists played a crucial role in a photographer’s studio, enhancing images on paper and plate with hand-applied color. Because early photographic processes—daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and albumen prints—lacked natural color, colorists meticulously tinted them using watercolors, oils, or pastels. This process required both artistic skill and precision, as colorists applied realistic flesh tones, clothing hues, and background shading without obscuring photographic details.
Their work added vibrancy and lifelike qualities to portraits, making photographs more appealing to clients who desired realism. Colorists followed social conventions in coloring, often idealizing subjects by softening facial imperfections or enhancing clothing richness. They were especially important in large studios, where demand for personalized and elegant portraits was high. By bridging photography and traditional painting, colorists contributed to the evolution of photographic artistry, making images more expressive and valuable to customers of the time.
This colorist, his name currently lost in time, likely worked in the studio of David Franklin “Frank” Rowell (1832-1900) of Weare, N.H. He started his professional life as an ornamental painter and became a photographer in 1855. He is well-remembered for his business partnership with Edward L. Allen, with whom he received a gold medal for "carbon pictures" at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Rowell is also recognized for his work with dry plate and film processes. About 1870, he established a whittling school "to save young men from drifting into idleness of the crowded lines of employment, by developing and guiding the whittling habit into a useful application." It became part of the Boston Industrial School.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.