Finlay - The Deerstalker 1843 - 1847

Editor: We’re looking at "The Deerstalker," a daguerreotype made between 1843 and 1847 by Hill and Adamson. The figure, dressed in full plaid regalia, almost blends into the landscape in this dreamy brown image. What strikes me most is the way his clothing asserts a certain class identity through the very fabric; what stands out to you in this portrait? Curator: It’s compelling to consider how the daguerreotype itself, a novel technology at the time, intersects with the sitter's crafted persona. The meticulous process, the chemicals used, the labor involved in creating this single image – it’s a confluence of materiality that elevates the sitter. Notice how the plaid's pattern and the man's gaze were likely deliberate decisions about national identity, woven into the very means of image production. How does that relate to romanticism? Editor: So, romanticism usually highlights an idealized past and the sublimity of nature. And here, perhaps this romanticized view of Scottish Highland culture is presented through a meticulous photographic method of that time. In a way, that asserts how one controls even identity. Curator: Exactly! The production and consumption of Highland imagery became intertwined with broader social trends like industrialization and tourism. The mass-produced tartan allowed people, particularly those in the middle and upper classes, to literally consume "Scottishness." How does photography influence it here? Editor: I guess, through photography, it's more than mere mass production. One sees this consumption or expression documented – an actual person staking claim on identity, making it, well, ‘real.' And that's captured. So, labor, material, identity – all come together in this single image. Curator: Precisely. Seeing art this way allows us to look at those power structures that dictate the production of both art and identity. Editor: This really gives me a new way to see portraits and photography! Thank you.