Schneider 1863

This photographic print, made by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri in France, presents us with eight distinct views of a woman named Schneider, likely a client who commissioned the work. Disdéri patented this method of capturing multiple poses on a single plate, and this technological innovation speaks to the burgeoning culture of celebrity and self-fashioning in the mid-19th century. The carte de visite, as these were known, became a popular way to circulate images, not only of famous figures but also of ordinary people eager to participate in the visual culture of modernity. Schneider’s attire, the props, and the formal poses all communicate a sense of bourgeois respectability. But what does it mean to have multiple versions of oneself circulating? The social and economic context in which photography emerged shaped its uses and meanings. To understand this image fully, we might research the history of photography, the rise of consumer culture, and the changing role of women in 19th-century France.