Buggy, Cabin, Sense of Drama, Striking Antique Gelatin Silver Print antique french miniature portrait with three of the cards

with three of the cards showing railway signals to be read at a distance of 20 feet--as these were commonly used for testing the vision of train conductors/railway workers

Maybe not a masterpiece

with a fold line down the center

and the lid slides on and off easily

Buggy, Cabin, Sense of Drama, Striking Antique Gelatin Silver Print antique french miniature portrait with three of the cardsTo my eye a super striking and evocative antique photograph, which feels a lot like a film still, and definitely as if capturing a scene from a much longer novel: what are the stories of these four (five), and the picture taker too, and what has brought them together here? Heading west I might guess, standing for the moment in what feels quite like the dry middle of nowhere. 4 x 4 15 16 and in good antique condition, very late 19th very early 20th c.