cameo appearance (10. 629)

Having previously explored the advent and the economy of the medium, we enjoyed this profile of the work of the nineteenth century travelling portrait artist William Bache, whose extensive portfolio of commissioned and sampler silhouettes not only reveal celebrities in profile but reveal the stories of hitherto anonymous sitters. Moreover at a time when fear and risk of communicable disease was rampant in the Americas and Caribbean, which was inclusive of Bache’s territory, the entrepreneur in the undeveloped industry of keepsake avatars distinguished himself from the competition with a device—since defamed for its association with eugenics for its reputed ability for scientifically-sound racial profiling—the physiognotrace which could create a faithful silhouette contact free. More at Hyperallergic at the link above.