Sarah Las-Gelles, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-8) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1890 - 1895

Editor: This is a photograph of Sarah Las-Gelles, taken sometime between 1890 and 1895 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., and printed using the albumen process as part of a cigarette card series. The texture and sepia tone give it a dreamy, antique feel. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: For me, this image immediately prompts questions about the labor and materials involved. Consider the albumen process: eggs were literally beaten and used to create a glossy surface on which the image could adhere. It’s a material process intimately connected to domesticity, but here it is used for mass production. What does it mean to consume an image literally created with kitchen waste? Editor: That's fascinating. I hadn't considered the albumen print in that way. So, the everyday material transforms into something…glamorous, advertising cigarettes, no less. Curator: Exactly! And think about the lace in the photograph: its presence speaks of the time-consuming labor needed to produce such finery, worn to promote mass-produced cigarettes. There’s a distinct tension between the hand-crafted image and the industrial product it's meant to sell. How does this tension affect our viewing of Sarah Las-Gelles herself? Editor: It almost cheapens her image, but elevates cigarettes... by association? So, the materials used and how the portrait was circulated reflect larger socio-economic forces at play in the late 19th century. Curator: Precisely. We are dealing with representations and means of production and distribution, all pointing to larger issues of consumption, class, and visibility. It makes us question who is represented and what power structures made this portrait possible in the first place. Editor: I never thought of a simple photograph having so many layers relating to social and economic dynamics! Thank you. Curator: My pleasure. Looking at the material conditions challenges what we consider "high art" and draws attention to the labor inherent in every image.