Portret van Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Noüy before 1877

This is Nadar's portrait of Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Noüy, a photograph likely from the mid-19th century, now held at the Rijksmuseum. The sepia tones lend the image a sense of historical remove, yet the subject's direct gaze and sharp focus create an intimate encounter. The composition is rigidly structured, with the sitter framed tightly within a decorative border. This formal constraint paradoxically highlights the soft gradations of light and shadow across Lecomte du Noüy's face and clothing. Nadar masterfully uses light to sculpt the planes of the face, drawing attention to the sitter's expression. Consider how the framing device operates here. It is both a literal enclosure and a metaphorical one, suggesting the constraints of social identity within the rigid structures of 19th-century society. The photograph becomes a sign, encoding a complex interplay of visibility and confinement, individuality, and social role. It invites us to decode the signs of representation, to see how identity is both constructed and perceived through the lens of the camera.