Portret van een onbekende man met snor 1886 - 1908

Editor: This is "Portret van een onbekende man met snor" – "Portrait of an Unknown Man with a Mustache" – a photograph attributed to H. van der Zijl, dating from sometime between 1886 and 1908. It feels very formal, but also… worn, like an object handled and aged over time. What do you see in this piece beyond just a portrait? Curator: I’m interested in how photography democratized portraiture. Prior to this technology, portraits were luxury commodities. Consider the shift in labor: the subject sits, perhaps uncomfortably, but the photographer… their work of setting up the shot, mixing chemicals, the darkroom process, even the business acumen needed to run a photography studio becomes central. Editor: So, the act of taking the photo becomes the important context? Curator: Exactly! Look closely at the wear and tear on the photograph itself. The aging isn’t just aesthetic; it speaks to the circulation of the image, who held it, where it travelled, its life as a material object. Photography becomes accessible to a wider population due to these developing material processes and growing accessibility to studio spaces within growing urban areas such as Amsterdam. The means of production shifted who could have a portrait made. What stories could it tell us about access, then? Editor: I hadn't considered the economic aspect. The *making* is the message! Curator: Precisely. By focusing on materiality and means, we unearth a story of evolving labor, access, and social shifts made visible through a simple portrait. Editor: I’ll definitely think differently about historical photos now, considering not just who is in the image, but how and why the image exists at all. Thanks!