Portret van Auguste Arthur de la Rive before 1873

This is Emile Pricam's portrait of Auguste Arthur de la Rive, presented within the pages of a biographical notice from 1877. The portrait, small in scale, captures de la Rive in a pose that speaks to the formal conventions of 19th-century portraiture, but consider the context in which this image was created. Photography in this era was rapidly evolving, democratizing portraiture while simultaneously reinforcing social hierarchies. De la Rive, presumably a man of some status to warrant a published biography, would have been acutely aware of how his image was being presented to the public. The choice of attire, pose, and even the photographic process itself, were all carefully considered to convey a certain identity. What does it mean to have one's life, one's image, so deliberately framed? This portrait is a window into the construction of identity and legacy in a rapidly changing world.