Portret van een man 1863 - 1875

Curator: Look at this portrait. It's an old daguerreotype, taken by Heinrich Steinhauer sometime between 1863 and 1875, titled rather simply, "Portret van een man," or "Portrait of a Man." Editor: He looks like he’s swallowed something bitter! Honestly, there’s this air of subdued… melancholy? Everything's quite contained, and the frame feels almost too ornate for such a somber fellow. It is a very composed image though, very neat! Curator: Melancholy, yes, I think that's captured quite well. Consider the era. Daguerreotypes, those early photographs on silvered copper plates, were painstaking. The subject would have had to sit very still, not a twitch! That forced stillness adds to that reserved, slightly burdened air you perceive. There's also the social expectation for these photographic portraits to represent oneself respectably. Editor: True. There's an inherent constraint, a pressure to perform a certain stoicism, a 'proper' portrait of oneself in the 19th century. That makes me think, what wasn't captured in this little square? What stories are bubbling beneath that serious stare? And who was he really portraying himself to be: his social aspirations, or something deeply intrinsic? Curator: That's where photography intersects with the grand tradition of portraiture. Think of all those royal portraits in the Renaissance. Those, too, were careful constructions of power. The rise of photography democratizes the medium; a middle class man, rather than a royal subject, is now being framed as the center of his own universe. I wonder if the almost ghostly fade in the photograph helps highlight the man? Editor: Ah, I hadn't considered the impact of that fading quality on our perception of his status. To be honest, I find the fact that these images continue to be portals to other eras… It always makes me wonder if someone is one day going to view my profile picture and feel as empathetic as I feel now! Curator: Absolutely. Looking back, it's hard to divorce the aesthetic from all the social weight it carries. Editor: Right? These images really echo through the ages, and hopefully, make us reflect on what portraits continue to do for us today.