Portret van een onbekende vrouw achter een stoel 1861 - 1889

This portrait of an unknown woman behind a chair was made by Albert Greiner, using a photographic process. The image has been captured on a light-sensitive material, a departure from traditional portraiture executed through painting or sculpture. Photography democratized portraiture. It transformed the means of production from a highly skilled artist to a photographer, and made the end result accessible to a wider range of social classes, not just the wealthy elite. The material qualities – the paper, the sepia tone, the intimate size – all speak to the shift toward mass production and consumption that characterized the late 19th century. The photograph’s surface is worn, showing its age and use, evidence of handling, and possibly of being displayed or carried as a keepsake. This fragility contrasts with the formality of the woman’s pose, and the presence of the chair, a prop suggesting status. Ultimately, this photograph is an intimate record of a specific moment in time, captured through a relatively new industrial process. Appreciating the social context and technological innovations behind its creation allows us to understand it as more than just a portrait, but as a document of a changing world.