José María Mora was born into one of the wealthiest families in Cuba and trained to be a painter. The Cuban uprising of 1868 forced him to flee to New York, where he became a retoucher for Napoleon Sarony and eventually opened his own studio. To set himself apart from the rest of the trade, Mora claimed he could offer his sitters a greater number and variety of backdrops than any other working photographer. He retouched this portrait to suggest snow falling, but was careful not to obscure the faces of his two clients.