Portret van een onbekende vrouw 1855 - 1885

This portrait of an unknown woman was captured by Erwin Hanfstaengl, a 19th-century German photographer with a studio in Paris. During this era, photography emerged as a powerful tool for representing and codifying social identities. The woman's attire and hairstyle speak to the conventions of middle-class European femininity. Consider the expectations placed upon women during this time, such as the emphasis on domesticity, and how these expectations might intersect with gender and class. While the sitter remains anonymous, the image offers a glimpse into the lives and experiences of women in the past, and the ways in which they navigated the constraints and possibilities of their time. What can we learn about the dialogue between representation, identity, and power from this photograph? How does it feel to connect with a woman whose name we don't know, yet whose image resonates with echoes of history?