Reproductie naar een foto van Willem Witsen c. 1860 - 1915

Editor: This gelatin silver print, titled "Reproductie naar een foto van Willem Witsen," is from around 1860 to 1915. It's a striking portrait. How do you approach interpreting something like this? Curator: Well, beyond the subject's stern expression, I immediately think about the photographic process. Consider the labor involved in creating a gelatin silver print at that time. It’s a complex interplay of chemistry, skill, and developing technologies. Editor: That makes sense. The materiality of the image is a kind of... artifact of that whole process. Curator: Exactly. We often overlook the means of production, the literal hands involved in fixing an image. This wasn’t simply pressing a button. There's a very particular social context baked into every choice of material, and every action in the darkroom. It raises the question, what was the role of photography in documenting—and perhaps constructing—identity during this period? Editor: So, you are suggesting that by analyzing the materials used and the method, we get insight into social and economic considerations? Curator: Precisely. The consumption of photography, its accessibility and dissemination, are deeply entwined with social structures and the hierarchies they upheld. The very act of producing and consuming these images reveals complex relationships around class and access. Editor: I see what you mean! So it's not just the 'what' but the 'how' and 'why' it was made. That’s given me a new way to consider photographic portraiture. Curator: Glad to hear it. Remembering the materiality pushes us beyond simply viewing the *image* and towards understanding its historical construction.