He gilded the local lilies

Press, 14 February 1986, Page 18

He gilded the local lilies

An advertisement in the newspaper of Saturday, March 22, 1902, announced the opening of Mr H. H. Clifford’s photographic studio, at 171 Cashel Street. “The studio now being complete,” it said, “Mr Clifford will be pleased to receive patrons.” Henry Herbert Clifford (1870 — 1948) was the son of Robert Clifford, a leading Dunedin photographer. He started work with his father, and after a time in Melbourne gaining more experience, returned to Christchurch where he joined Standish and Preece until he went out on his own in premises above Beath’s store. In the late 19205, his old friend Bertie Whitcombe invited him to move into Whitcombe and Tombs’ building, where he decorated his studio lavishly with wood panelling, stylish lighting and dressing rooms with mirrors, brushes and combs, and mahogany furniture. He employed a female lift operator and a receptionist.

At the street entrance and in the vestibule show cases were installed to display the portraits of his latest sitters, becoming the focus of attention for those who considered it “the thing” to have their pictures in the window. Debutantes, university graduates, society matrons, babies, wedding groups, city fathers and sports teams were all there. The vestibule had plenty of seating and became a popular meeting place and social centre.

“The Press” commissioned him to take each year’s crop of

debutantes individually, and would then devote a whole page to named, full-length photographs of some 20 or 30 young women in their white gowns. Not the least important aspect of his art was “gilding the lily.” At one time he employed a staff of 12 retouching women, specially trained to improve upon nature. The retouchers sat on high stools at a long bench, each with a wooden frame set at 45 degrees with a glass centre lit from behind. On this, the glass nevatives, ranging up to 12in x 15in in size, were touched up with extremely long, special pencils, imported from America. Working through a magnifying glass, the retouchers followed Mr Clifford’s careful instructions to remove bags from under eyes, spots from chins, and wrinkles from necks, cheeks and comers of mouths; hair was added, eyelashes lengthened, and highlights accentuated. No wonder he was so popular! His collection of about 50,000 glass negatives was deposited in the Canterbury Museum about seven years ago by his son, the late Ogilvie Clifford. They fill a whole stackroom from floor to ceiling. Their storage boxes are meticulously labelled and each negative is inscribed with the name of the sitter. As well as this, some of his original index books have survived, making it possible to find any portrait by name. The latest date to appear is 1945, marking the end of this glamorous period in the history of black and white photography.

—Joan Woodward