Portret van een onbekende man, aangeduid als Dr. Henrikslund 1878 - 1890

Bernhard Hakelier, a Swedish photographer active in the late 19th and early 20th century, made this cabinet card of an unknown man, identified as Dr. Henrikslund. These photographs were immensely popular at the time and were usually kept in albums in the parlor for guests to view. Photography studios popped up in many cities, and portraits that once were only accessible to the upper class became more widely available. They democratized representation and solidified a new kind of visual culture. The man in the portrait looks serious, with a trimmed beard, wearing a suit and bow tie. These are all visual codes that signal a certain bourgeois status. The format of the photograph itself, with the photographer's name printed at the bottom, also reminds us of the commercial and institutional forces at work in the making of this image. To better understand the status of Dr. Henrikslund, and the studio of Hakelier, we could consult city directories, census records, and business archives, to better understand the social context of the image. Only then can we understand the social life of art.