Portret van een man en een vrouw aan een tafel met een boek c. 1862 - 1885

This is a photograph by Albert Greiner, portraying a man and a woman at a table with a book. Photographs like this one were made possible by chemical processes, fixing light onto a treated surface, and then printed. It represents a radical shift from the traditional painted portrait, where artists would spend hours, days, or even weeks capturing a likeness. Here, the sitters are captured in a fraction of a second. The rise of photography democratized portraiture, making it accessible to a wider range of people, not just the wealthy elite. However, even with this new technology, there was still labor involved. Someone had to prepare the chemicals, operate the camera, and print the image. And, of course, the sitters had to present themselves in a way that conformed to social expectations. This photograph, therefore, is not just a record of two individuals, but a document of a society undergoing rapid technological and social change. It reminds us that even the most seemingly straightforward images are the product of complex processes and social relations.