This tintype, dating from around 1860, is a very early photograph of an Erie Canal freighter. The image, which has been hand-tinted, is reversed because no negative was used in the tintype process; the metal plate itself was exposed to light in the camera. While the boat’s owner, family and crew pose, the boat’s mule team patiently waits on the towpath to get underway. (Courtesy of the George Eastman Museum)