Portret van een man met snor 1861 - 1874

Albert Greiner captured this photograph, titled *Portret van een man met snor*, sometime in the 19th century. The man in the portrait, with his carefully groomed mustache and formal attire, embodies the bourgeois values of the era. Made in the Netherlands, this image speaks to the rise of photography as a tool for social representation. Photography democratized portraiture, previously the domain of the wealthy. As cameras became cheaper, the middle class began to use photography as a medium to document and circulate their image. The Rijksmuseum, as an institution, plays a role in shaping our understanding of the past, by choosing which images to preserve and display. Studying archives, periodicals, and social histories of the time can reveal the complex social and political forces that shaped the production and consumption of this image. Ultimately, our interpretation of this work is always subject to further understanding of its historical and institutional context.