Theo. W. Phinisey, photographer, made this self-portrait in his own studio in Howell, Michigan, produced as an albumen cabinet card and imprinted on the reverse with his studio address in the Weimeister Block on the south side of Grand River Street. The deliberate arrangement of professional equipment surrounding him and his composed, direct gaze suggest the image was made as both a personal record and a demonstration of his craft. The style of dress and studio appointments are consistent with the 1880s.

Phinisey stands in a dark three-piece suit with a knotted cravat, one arm resting atop a large wooden view camera mounted on a floor stand. A fringed upholstered posingchair occupies the foreground, while an antler-legged stool sits to the right. A classic positioning stand is prominent in the center of the composition. On the table are several contact printing frames. Two framed signs hang on the dark backdrop wall: one reads "Photographs / Negative / Orders" and the other reads "There is No Place Like Home."

Phinisey is documented as a photographer active in Livingston County, Michigan during the latter nineteenth century, operating a commercial portrait practice in Howell, the county seat. Self-portraits by working studio photographers of this period are uncommon and carry particular documentary value as records of the trade and its tools.