Mlle Dansfeld; Mlle Augustine Stoïkoff 1860

This is an undated photographic print by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, entitled ‘Mlle Dansfeld; Mlle Augustine Stoïkoff’, now residing at the Metropolitan Museum. The composition consists of eight separate shots arranged in a grid, each capturing a dancer in a slightly different pose. The images are characterized by soft sepia tones and subtle variations in light. The formal arrangement of the photographs in a grid introduces a sense of seriality. This anticipates later avant-garde photographic practices such as that of Bernd and Hilla Becher, who used grids of images to explore the typologies of industrial structures. Disdéri's arrangement might suggest a nascent exploration into the serial nature of images and their ability to capture movement and change over time. Consider the semiotic implications: each pose signifies a moment in a dance, a fragmented narrative frozen in time. This work not only documents but also deconstructs the performance, inviting us to consider how the medium of photography can dissect and reassemble our perceptions of movement and identity.