Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Palma in the Plaza Alta of Algeciras
Top - Joseph Porral (with logo) - Bottom - James H. Mann
Joseph Porral was still living in Gibraltar in 1878 together with his wife Claudina and his barrister-in-law son John. By 1891, however, he and his wife no longer lived in Gibraltar. In 1901 he was back minus his wife who I can only presume had died in the interim.
Logically he must have left during the intervening 12 years from 1879 to 1891 and returned at some time during the 8 years from 1892 to 1900 - which from a purely logical point of view means he was away an absolute maximum of 20 years.
He was in Tangier in 1881 but I suspect that this was a short trip and that he never actually lived there. My guess is that he settled in Algeciras more or less for the duration - a view that is backed by the evidence of various extant photos which he took there as well as several postcards published by others depicting his work
Joseph produced some of his very best work in Algeciras. James Hollingworth Mann, for example, has often been described as one of the great local - and not so local - photographers of the 19th Century. Having had the pleasure of browsing through much of his pioneering work on Gibraltar and the campo area I am convinced that the description is correct. Nevertheless, in my opinion Porral’s photo is on a par if not better than that taken by Mann a few years earlier.
Porral postcard using the above photograph (with logo)
Porral’s photo used by a local postcard publisher
Colour tinted version of Porral’s photo used by a Gibraltar and Tangier postcard publisher, A. Benzaquen (logo removed)
Other Algeciras photographs identified by Porral’s logo:
Plaza de Toros of La Linea
La Perserverancia Bullring, Algeciras
"Algeciras,
Campiña y Acueducto"
Rio de la Miel
A tinted version of the previous photo used by Benzaquen as a postcard - the boy in the foreground with the logo on his shoulder has been removed
Porral postcard with photograph taken from the same railway pier as shown on the previous postcard
Another Benzaquen postcard - The photo was almost certainly also taken by Porral
La Linea buildings identified by Rafael Fernandez
With acknowledgements to Rafael Fernandez who supplied me with many of the photos and pointed me in the right direction. Thank you Rafael.
1860 - Joseph Porral - Gibraltar Photographer - Carte de Visite
1860 - Joseph Porral - Gibraltar Photographer - Postcards
1860 - Joseph Porral - Gibraltar Photographer - Photos
1860 - Joseph Porral - Gibraltar Photographer - Tangier
1860 - Joseph Porral - Gibraltar Photographer - Other Places