Alex Martins, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: Standing before us, we have a photographic print from between 1885 and 1891, part of the "Actors and Actresses" series for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, featuring Alex Martins. Editor: It's delicate, like an old love letter found tucked away. The sepia tones give it this immediate sense of nostalgia, a kind of romanticized past. And such fragility! It feels like it could crumble at any moment. Curator: Indeed. The portrait exemplifies the aesthetic conventions popular at the time for celebrity portraiture used in advertising. Notice how her gaze, although direct, is softened, perhaps to render her less intimidating to potential customers. Editor: There’s a softness, certainly. Almost dreamy. The light feels almost painterly, doesn’t it? Considering its original format as a tobacco card, this rendering must have helped create an aspiration – smoking as a form of romantic longing, perhaps? Curator: Quite possibly. We can analyze the semiotics of this composition: the arrangement of her features, the delicate handling of light and shadow all contributing to the intended effect. There are formal relationships created across the composition. Editor: That single little flower nestled in her hair... such a fleeting emblem of beauty and grace. It's intriguing how a common weed like tobacco could find itself linked with ideas of such delicate sophistication! There is definitely irony at play. Curator: Such advertising fostered very strong links indeed, blurring boundaries between art, consumerism, and celebrity culture of the era. Also, note that this print is Type 1, offering the collector insights into how different print variations were deployed. Editor: And, thinking about Virginia Brights itself, there's this ghost of advertising past whispering about a lost world. A world that marketed health risks through glamour! So, even now, the photograph reminds me to reflect, to see how things have changed—and haven’t. Curator: Your response echoes Walter Benjamin's ideas about photography and history. I see an instance where art engages with questions of the self and temporality. Editor: Ultimately, I think both come through strongly here, then and now, which makes me want to pause here a moment and then ponder, later. Curator: A sentiment, perhaps, many felt back in that historical moment! I too will retain such reflections after viewing it within our time now.