Untitled (Portrait of Man with Hat) 1850 - 1899

This small portrait of a man with a hat was made with a photographic process called tintype, sometime in the late nineteenth century. The most striking thing about this image is the way it conveys social status. Tintypes were more accessible than earlier photographic processes. They democratized portraiture, but the clothing and the hat worn by this gentleman still speak to the enduring importance of social class. The bow tie, the pocket watch and the patterned suit, these are all visual cues to the subject’s middle class status, but the hat is the true focal point. The hat as a social symbol was extremely important in the 19th and early 20th century, as they were a way for men to express themselves and their social standing. Understanding the social conditions and visual codes that shape an image like this requires looking into historical resources, like fashion plates, census data, newspapers, and etiquette guides. All of these help us understand better the cultural meanings of an image like this.