Mlle Therasson [?]; Fréret 1864

This composite photograph, made by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, shows performers costumed for an operatic staging. It’s a fascinating example of early photographic technology put to the service of documenting stagecraft. The images were produced using the carte-de-visite process, which Disdéri himself popularized. This involved a special camera with multiple lenses, allowing several exposures to be made on a single glass plate. The resulting prints were small, inexpensive, and widely collected, a precursor to modern-day trading cards. Look closely, and you can see the seams where the individual prints have been carefully assembled into this larger composition. The carte-de-visite democratized portraiture, making images accessible to a broader public, and documenting the fleeting performances of popular entertainers. It offered a new way of freezing moments in time, and preserving them within a burgeoning culture of celebrity. In its own way, this photograph embodies the increasing availability of images, and wider social access to visual culture.