I don’t know quite how to describe this photo. The entire thing is about the size of a CdV, which is 2.5″ by 3.5″ generally. The paper folder has a small flap of thin paper on the back where the photo was inserted and then the flap was glued shut. The photo itself is made of a sort of plastic material, not a printed photograph as we know them today. The plastic is thin and actually reminds me of a slide, the type that were popular in the 1960s. I believe I had a previous photo like this one that had been folded in half, and the film of the photo was curling and flaking away, suggesting that the photo was printed in the standard process, but onto this piece of plastic.
Upon enlargement of the photo, you can tell this is a man and a woman in early 20th century clothing, although I cannot date it better than “sometime between 1910 and 1940.” The man is wearing a nice suit and a hat, while the woman is wearing a dress that is mid-calf in length plus a coat and hat. At first I thought the background might have been a cemetery, but upon closer scrutiny I think it might be the front yard of a home.
Who Were They? 
I was thinking cemetery too – but if it isn’t, perhaps some sort of Zoo? The railing and fence makes the building and yard look like enclosure for an animal. There isn’t any sign to ID it though unless one or the other of the couple is standing in front of it.
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me three..thinking cemetery..then I saw the railing that doesn’t quite fit. Interesting way to present a photo..I have seen the type of card you describe. I think they were mainly used for gem tintypes. It think some photographers were also artists and inventors and some tried different processes. :)
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great to see how things have evolved since its inception. i remember seeing such things before, at my grandparents’, and i never quite knew what they were exactly. pretty though!!
:)
HUGZ
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