Josie Hall, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Gypsy Queen Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

Curator: The work before us, dating from 1886 to 1890, presents a photographic portrait of Josie Hall. It comes to us from Goodwin & Company as part of their Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Gypsy Queen Cigarettes. Editor: Interesting… the albumen print gives it this sort of sepia tone that evokes nostalgia, but the image itself is what catches my eye. There's an unusual androgyny about the subject. Curator: That androgyny is definitely something the period grappled with, isn't it? Hall's attire challenges the conventional portrayals of femininity at the time, pointing to evolving gender roles within performance culture. It's carefully posed to both entice and subvert. Editor: It's not just attire. The construction of this image seems almost self-aware in its subversion. What are we meant to consume here? Is it Josie Hall, the cigarette brand, the performance, the social idea? I'm struck by how all these materials collapse into each other. Curator: And that consumption was certainly part of Goodwin & Company's strategy. By associating their Gypsy Queen Cigarettes with popular performers, they were aiming to elevate the brand's appeal through the cultural cachet of these figures. These were trading cards inserted into packs of cigarettes, a brilliant marketing ploy targeting mass audiences. Editor: Precisely. It reveals how art, even in this incidental form, becomes entwined with the means of production and distribution. The very materiality of the print—thin, portable— speaks to its function as a commodity within the wider network of late 19th-century consumerism. Curator: Think about it, owning an image, a representation, of Josie Hall provided an entry point into the glittering world of entertainment, a taste of fame, for the common consumer. And that feeling of owning "celebrity" was, in turn, connected to ideas about class and aspiration. Editor: Right. And consider the labor behind each individual albumen print! A fleeting glimpse into performance, made material through complex production processes. I'd argue this shifts our perception of photographs like these—beyond celebrity portraiture— into potent artifacts revealing the intertwining of labor, capital, and cultural consumption. Curator: It offers a compelling commentary, certainly. Examining it with this dual understanding, both the image’s composition and the historical circumstances, unveils hidden social and economic dimensions in this photograph. Editor: Indeed. It really exemplifies how analyzing art through its materials and how they were produced adds new and insightful layers.