Portret van Eduard VII, koning van het Verenigd Koninkrijk 1860 - 1880

This photograph of Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom, was created by Window & Bridge, a studio which specialized in portraiture. The photograph is made using the albumen process. Developed in 1850, the albumen print was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a photographic positive from a negative. The process involved coating a sheet of paper with light-sensitive chemicals. The paper was then exposed to light through a negative, creating a positive image. The albumen print process became the dominant form of photographic print from 1855 to the turn of the 20th century. This technique democratized image production, making portraiture accessible to a wide range of people, and creating employment opportunities for skilled darkroom technicians. The materiality of this photograph, its production, and consumption, all speak to the rise of a Victorian middle class and the associated Industrial Revolution.