Miss Rose Sutherland, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This photograph of Miss Rose Sutherland comes to us from the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, purveyors of Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Mass-produced for insertion into cigarette packs, these cards exemplify the industrialization of image-making. Photography, once a laborious process, was streamlined for commercial purposes. The sepia tone, a result of the printing process, gives the image a nostalgic feel, yet it speaks to the efficiency of mass production. Consider the labor involved: from the cultivation of tobacco to the printing of these cards, each step contributed to a vast economic system. The photograph itself is a commodity, a collectible embedded in a larger network of consumption and desire. By appreciating its materiality, we understand that even a seemingly simple image can reveal the complex relationship between art, labor, and commerce.