Portret van een man 1866 - 1880

This photographic portrait was made by Von Kolkow & Co., using the then-new technology of chemical photography. Think about the nature of photographic portraiture at this time. It was a relatively recent invention, and it democratized the practice of image-making. Before, only the wealthy could afford to have their likeness captured in a painted portrait, but now, through the labor-intensive but ultimately scalable process of photography, many more people could participate in this form of representation. This portrait, though small in scale, speaks volumes about the changing social landscape. Consider the material reality of this object: the coated paper, the chemicals that reacted to light, the darkroom labor, the eventual mass production of such images. These are all key to understanding the cultural significance of the image itself. By focusing on the making, we can appreciate how photography blurred the lines between art, craft, and industry, reflecting broader shifts in society.