A face from the Daily Mirror archive

[NEWSPAPER LIBRARY PORTRAITS - UNIDENTIFIED SITTER]. STUDIO-STYLE HEAD-AND-SHOULDERS PORTRAIT PRESERVED WITH DAILY MIRROR LIBRARY CAPTION

UNIDENTIFIED SITTER. Black-and-white press photograph, approximately 4.7 × 6.5 inches (120 × 166 mm). The portrait shows a person in a dark jacket, light shirt and tie, with a broad-brimmed hat, against a dark studio-like background.

The verso carries a printed caption and library markings. The heading “DAILY MIRROR LIBRARY” is legible. The caption form includes fields for subject, where used, date, photographer, and number; handwritten entries include a date that appears to read “10 JUNE 1936.” The typed caption is partly difficult to decipher. It appears to describe a portrait and a journey from England, but the sitter, destination, and complete wording cannot be established confidently from the visible text. Handwritten pencil annotations and a blue date stamp are also present.

The photograph’s subject and circumstances remain unidentified on the available evidence. The library heading and caption form show that this print was handled as an editorial image, with space for newsroom use, date, photographer, and filing information. The surviving handwriting and stamp record picture-library handling, though they do not independently establish when the image was made or identify the sitter.

The worn image and heavily annotated reverse remain together as a physical press-library artifact. The portrait, caption, date notation, and library marks preserve both the image and traces of its circulation through a newspaper picture archive.

From the Eric C. Caren Archive.