Werewolf Boys, circa 1940

Rensler’s Portrait Sudio opened at 925 Vine Street in 1906, which was one of the first tenants of the newly completed Court View BuIlding, a handsome commercial / residential building in the Beaux Arts style of architecture. When the business closed in 1989, the studio had moved to 921 Vine Street, which is exactly where the current exhibit is hosted by Carteaux and Leslie.

Brad Smith, photographer had approached us with the idea of a show featuring photographs from the original glass plate negatives. The 49 works produced for the exhibit were pulled from the thousands of plates bought by Brad at auction when the studio closed. The subjects are Cincinnatians, although anonymous. The negatives were stored in boxes, but not identified. The people posing for these studio shots range from Halloween costumed pranksters to officious work photos. I’m hoping someone is going to come in to look at the show, and exclaim, “ Hey, that’s my grandmother in that horrible hat !”