Portret van Charles Sumner before 1874

Curator: So, before us is what we believe is an albumen silver print, a photographic portrait created by Allen & Rowell, depicting Charles Sumner. The date is presumed to be before 1874. Editor: My first impression is how incredibly fragile it feels. The spotting and fading across both pages tell a story of age and delicate material choices. It's like holding a memory that’s slowly dissolving. Curator: Yes, precisely. The albumen print process involves coating paper with egg white, then sensitizing it with silver nitrate. It yields a crisp image, initially. But these prints were often mounted in albums and susceptible to environmental degradation. Editor: The labour! Thinking about someone carefully painting egg white onto paper – there’s something incredibly intimate and laborious about that. This isn't just a photograph, it's a made object. Curator: It adds another layer, doesn't it? This particular printing method gives a distinct tonal range; note the deep blacks contrasting with the brighter highlights, achieving a kind of chiaroscuro effect... rather dramatic for what might have been intended as a simple likeness. Editor: I'm also drawn to how this process challenges our notions of authenticity. It's a photograph, but the handmade quality of the paper and the printing transforms it into something unique and unrepeatable. No digital reproducibility here. Curator: Right! This photo becomes something singular and tangible, almost sculptural because you could say the photographer really handled the material from start to finish. But I find my eye returning to Sumner’s face, contemplating his own hopes for his legacy in this still recent form of portraiture. What kind of paper, what process will preserve MY image, the man must have thought… Editor: Exactly! This artwork bridges worlds – photography becoming a historical object reflecting materiality and memory. Curator: Beautifully put.