Portret van een man c. 1874 - 1875

Joseph Dupont made this portrait of a man sometime in the nineteenth century, using the then relatively new technology of photography. Small portraits such as this were affordable and easily reproducible, creating new possibilities for how social status was represented and communicated. In many ways, the trappings of bourgeois power are still visible here. Looking at this image through a socio-historical lens, we can see the cultural codes of the time. The man’s confident posture and the careful grooming of his beard and hair speak to a very particular ideal of masculinity. In Europe at this time, new technologies of image production were becoming increasingly important to the construction of social identity. Photography studios sprung up in urban centers and portraiture became an important way for the middle classes to emulate the visual culture of the elites. Art historians often look to sources such as trade directories or newspaper advertisements to uncover more about the production of images like these, to get a better sense of their significance.