Hannah Maynard as statuary c.1885

Maynard created images that reflected the typical subjects and styles of classical statuary. In this self-portrait, her likeness is draped in cloth and stares pensively off to one side, echoing the sculptural busts of historical figures from antiquity. Photo-sculpture (sometimes referred to as living statuary), though not often seen practised in professional photographic studios across Canada, was one of the many ways that Maynard experimented with the medium of photography.

These kinds works, often referred to as “statuette portraits” were popularized in the 1880s through publications such as Walter E. Woodbury’s 1896 Photographic Amusements: Including a Description of a Number of Novel Effects Obtainable with the Camera.  While there is no record of precisely where Maynard learned of this technique, her active interest in photographic methods and her contributions to publications like the St. Louis and Canadian Photographer indicate that she was keen to keep abreast of writing in the field to seek out new ideas and approaches. While many photography studios across Canada employed different processes and darkroom techniques to create images, the extensive use of photo-sculpture seems to be unique to Maynard.

The process typically involved covering a subject’s skin, hair, and clothing in a white powder such as rice flour, and photographing them against a black background, sometimes even standing them behind a plinth or pedestal. Any part of the sitter that the photographer wanted hidden was draped with black fabric. The photographer would then scrape the clear background on the negative to modify the appearance of the subject; for example, scratching away the arms or parts of the torso. The original negative could be overlaid on a separate one that contained a photograph of a pedestal. When printed together, they created the impression of a classical statue or a bust without arms.

The emulation of classical subjects was not the only way in which Maynard experimented with photo-sculpture. In Statuary from life, young girl and birdcage, n.d., Maynard explores its potential for allegorical storytelling. The little girl holds a small, empty birdcage. The door of the cage dangles open while the girl holds her hand to her eyes, worriedly looking for the bird. The image is a concise allegory of loss, especially when paired with a similar photo-sculpture portrait where the same girl happily holds the cage under her arm, this time with the door closed. Like her photo-sculptures of children, Maynard used her self-portrait on her display boards that potential clients used to choose a style for their own portrait.