A Portland Camera Club member photographs a woman in a studio against a backdrop of drapes. It is possible that the studio pictured was the club's studio on the third floor of the McClellan-Sweat mansion, which the group occupied along with the Portland Society of Art (PSA) until the 1960s. The PSA eventually became the Portland Museum of Art.

The Portland Camera Club was founded in 1899 and is one of the oldest camera clubs in the United States. In the first decades of the 20th century, members went on regular outings to various places in Maine to picnic, hike, and take photographs. Members still meet regularly to share and comment on one another's work.