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• Photographic Protocol :THAT'S NO LADY THAT'S MY WIFE. 

What was allowed and considered inappropriate regarding a couple in a portrait.
Couples in portraits are either:-

 • Husband and Wife

 • Engaged

 • Very Close Relatives for example brother & sister or cousins.

  • No woman would ever have her portrait taken with a boyfriend it implied permanent commitment.
  • A woman could appear in a large mixed group photograph and this was OK, it did not infer anything.
  • A woman would not give her portrait to a male friend it would be seen by everyone (including him) as being too forward.suggestive
  • A woman could give a girlfriend a portrait knowing her brother would have access to it.
  • A studio photograph of a young couple taken at resorts like Blackpool, The Isle of Man, Scarborough and Harrogate will probably be honeymoon photos.
  • Flowers- especially if the man is wearing a large flower in his buttonhole, is probably a wedding photograph; often the only wedding photograph taken. Not everybody could afford a white wedding. Even during hard times lovers still married.

    • • It is surprisingly rare for the woman to show her wedding ring in both honeymoon and wedding portraits.

    As the century progressed the protocol loosened but certainly regarding Studio portraits, remained in place.