The Company Album of Modern Trades

The Company Album of Modern Trades is a fictional second volume of a 19th-century album of Indian trade paintings. Same pose, new tool: each modern plate keeps an original figure's pose and changes only the tool.

The seven modern plates: I. E-waste recyclers (after the stonemasons). II. Solar panel carrier (after the labourer carrying a load). III. Food vlogger (after the bearer carrying a tray). IV. Freelancer with laptop (after the painter). V. Phone repairman (after the bookbinder). VI. Delivery rider (after the vegetable seller). VII. Drone videographer, the final plate: a closing coda with no historical counterpart.

Historical artwork credit: the six reference panels are 19th-century gouache paintings by an unnamed Indian artist from the album Trades and occupations in India, Wellcome Collection, Public Domain Mark. They are not my work. Stonemasons: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ycjwpfn3 ; Labourer carrying a load and bearer carrying a tray: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dxqxynsq ; Painter and bookbinder: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/a6wzwbdu ; Vegetable seller: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/wujmcz2t ; Parent album: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/gx3mmrm3

My contribution: the concept, the selection and cropping of the six reference panels, the Recraft V4 Style Company Album Gouache, the prompts, the seven modern plates, and the curation and presentation, made with Recraft for the Recraft Styles Challenge.

Try the Style: https://www.recraft.ai/styles/7fea15fb-974e-4f75-82c1-76564dee18b0