Onbekende vrouw in een venster, vermoedelijk in Italië 1865 - 1875

Giovanni Crupi made this photograph of an unknown woman, possibly in Italy, at an unknown date. It is an albumen print, a process invented in 1847, that fixed images from negatives onto paper using egg whites as a binding agent. It was the first commercially exploited method of producing a photographic print on a paper base. The photograph is an evocative scene of a woman sitting in a stone window, apparently knitting, with potted plants next to her. What is most interesting is the rough texture of the stone walls, the vulnerability of the woman, and the cultural implications of domestic labor. The lack of information about this photograph invites speculation about its meaning, which would be a fruitful area for further research. We can see from this single image how much photographic evidence remains for our interpretation.