The Victorian family album is one of the few surviving records of everyday life in the second half of the 19th century. This book is a comprehensive study of portrait photography in Victorian times. Portrait photography began with the introduction of the daguerrotype process in 1839. This established photography as an alternative to painting but, at first, photographers continued to be strongly influenced by painting traditions. Early photographers, therefore, imitated art, rather than exploiting the realism of this important new genre. It was not long, however, before photographic studios were travelling the country in caravans, and itinerant photographers could be found the length and breadth of the country - on street corners, at fairgrounds and at the seaside. By establishing photography as a form of cheap, popular entertainment in this way, these early photographers eventually paved the way for the more relaxed conventions of modern family photographs. This book is an entertaining history of this fascinating subject. Illustrated with a great variety of portraits, together with biographies of characters featured, this book offers readers a rare glimpse of these real-life characters who gaze at us from another era.