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Mrs. Benjamin Stebbins' Son Climbing a Tree

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Frances and Mary Allen of Deerfield, Massachusetts, were acclaimed photographers of children. They noted in a letter published in the March 1894 journal "The Photo-Beacon": "We usually have better success with children who are not too highly civilized, or too conventionally clothed, or who are too young to be conscious. We give them a general idea of the picture we want, and then let them alone until they forget about us and the drop catches an unconscious pose. They consider it a game, and are always ready to play at it."

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