Portret van een meisje 1870 - 1910

This photograph of a girl, maker unknown, is mounted on cardstock and bound into an album. Though it's small, don't let its size fool you – it speaks volumes about the rise of the middle class and the modern family. Think about the process that made this image possible: the refinement of silver-based emulsions, the mass production of cameras and photographic paper. Photography democratized portraiture. What was once the exclusive domain of the wealthy – oil paintings, marble busts – became accessible to a broader public. This photograph's material qualities – its sepia tones, the smooth surface of the print, the way it's carefully mounted in an album – all contribute to its significance. It's not just a picture; it's a carefully constructed object meant to be cherished and displayed, a testament to the family's aspirations and social standing. It exemplifies how photography, though a product of industrialization, became deeply intertwined with personal and familial narratives.