Excellent Looking Old Prop Camera black lacquer and what is with this

and what is with this giant hand she is holding out toward him

6th plate ambrotype in a half case

The texts on the back drop lots of period references such as this

or of her "Momma" and "Papa" and their activities

but then there they are

Excellent Looking Old Prop Camera black lacquer and what is with thisThis old camera doesn't do a thing; I believe it was just made as a prop, though I have no idea the story behind its making and what it was used for. I just found it find it! a wonderful looking and evocative thing, with frame upon frame of linen (constructed, I believe, to emulate) collapsed bellows surrounding the lens at dead center. Setting it somewhere now feels like inserting the presence of an all seeing eye or acknowledging the contemporary