Francis Lewis Lowndes, New York (1837-?) 1858

Editor: This is a portrait of Francis Lewis Lowndes, New York, created by John Adams Whipple around 1837. It's a photograph mounted on card. It's interesting how the date and location are handwritten. What does this suggest to you? Curator: The handwritten elements offer clues to the distribution and consumption of early photography. Think about the labor involved in creating the emulsion, coating the plates, sitting for the exposure, printing, and then mounting and annotating each image. How does that affect your understanding of value? Editor: I hadn't considered the amount of work involved beyond taking the picture. Curator: Exactly! It shifts the focus from the artistic genius to the whole system of production and the materiality of the print itself. The photograph becomes less about Lowndes and more about the economic and social forces at play in image-making. Editor: That's a really interesting perspective. Thanks for pointing out the labor and value in the materiality. Curator: My pleasure. It's about understanding art as a product of specific historical and economic conditions.