Untitled (six photographs, clockwise from upper left, Lord Graham; Lord Hillsborough; Hon. Crespigny Vivian; Victor van de Wise(?); Captain Hood; Sir Samuel Hope(?)) 1862 - 1888

Curator: This intriguing photographic collage, currently titled "Untitled," is by Mary Georgiana Caroline Cecil Filmer, and resides in the Harvard Art Museums. It presents six portraits, arranged with handwritten labels and decorative emblems. My first thought is that it exudes the formality of Victorian society. Editor: Indeed, I'm immediately drawn to the materiality here – the silver gelatin prints, the paper album page itself. The process of meticulously cutting and arranging these photographs speaks to a very specific kind of labor and leisure. These are not simply casual snapshots. Curator: The handwritten names and ornate crests above each portrait offer hints—each symbol and pose is meticulously chosen, likely revealing the sitter’s status and self-presentation, reflecting societal norms and aspirations. Editor: And I wonder about the labor involved in creating these cartes de visite, popular at the time. The photographic studios, the printing, the paper—these portraits signify a material culture of consumption. Curator: Seeing them together, it’s hard not to consider what connections Filmer might have been trying to make, and how these men might have been perceived in relation to one another. Editor: It's fascinating to consider the physical act of creating this collage alongside its social context. The photograph then becomes a material object within a larger network of social exchange.