Le petit Russe 1860s

Editor: This albumen print from the 1860s, titled "Le petit Russe" and attributed to Pierre-Louis Pierson, depicts a young person in Russian-style dress. The sepia tones create a slightly melancholic mood. I'm curious, what story do you think the materiality of this print tells? Curator: Well, let’s consider the materiality of albumen printing itself. It was a fairly involved, labor-intensive process. Egg whites were used to coat the paper, then sensitized with silver nitrate. Think about the sheer quantity of eggs needed for widespread production of these prints! What does that say about the burgeoning photography industry and its resource consumption at the time? Editor: That's a fascinating point! I hadn't considered the industrial scale of egg production behind what looks like a simple portrait. Curator: Precisely. And consider the clothing of the sitter. Who produced those fabrics? Where were they sourced? Was it hand-loomed, or factory-made? These are questions of labor, craft, and the emerging global textile trade. Even this carefully constructed 'Russian' identity is a commodity of sorts. Editor: So you're saying that the image, the subject’s clothing, and the photographic process itself all speak to the social and economic conditions of the 1860s? Curator: Exactly. It's about unpicking the threads, both literally and figuratively, to understand the power dynamics and modes of production inherent in this image. Even the very fact it ended up here in the Met reveals something about historical patterns of acquisition and ownership. Editor: This gives me so much to think about regarding art production beyond the art object, or even the aesthetic considerations. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. Looking closely at materials and methods opens a window onto a much wider world.