Portret van een jongeman 1860 - 1890

Bernardus Bruining, a Dutch photographer, made this portrait sometime in the late nineteenth century. The photograph is of a young man, smartly dressed in a suit and tie and set within an oval frame in an album. Consider the rise of photography at this time. Photography democratized portraiture, making images accessible to a wider public beyond the elite who could afford painted portraits. Photo albums became a way to curate personal and familial narratives. This image speaks to middle-class aspirations and the desire for social visibility. The subject’s clothing, pose, and the very act of commissioning a portrait suggest an engagement with bourgeois norms. The institutions of art and photography played a role in shaping social identities and cultural values. By studying photographs like this, alongside other historical documents such as personal letters, newspapers, and institutional records, we gain insight into the social conditions and cultural values that shaped the lives of people in the Netherlands during this period.