Jennie Kimball (1848-1896) 1869 - 1874

This is a photograph of Jennie Kimball, made by Jeremiah Gurney, a prominent New York photographer, sometime in the mid-19th century. These small portraits, known as cartes de visite, became wildly popular during the 1860s. The rise of photography coincided with the growth of the middle class, creating a new market for portraiture. Photography studios like Gurney's democratized image-making, making it accessible to a broader public. Jennie Kimball’s clothing and jewelry signal her social standing. Her direct gaze and confident posture reflect the changing roles of women in society. To understand the significance of this image, we can look at the history of photography, the social conventions of portraiture, and the cultural values of the Victorian era. Studying census records, fashion plates, and etiquette manuals would shed light on Jennie Kimball's life and the world she inhabited. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.