Portret van een onbekende vrouw achter een fauteuil 1884 - 1895

This photographic portrait of an unknown woman, probably made in the Netherlands, comes from the studio of C. van der Aa & J. Chrispijn in Alkmaar. The photograph itself is of interest, but more so as an index of the social and institutional context of image-making in its time. Consider how such an image would have been made and circulated. It’s likely that the sitter paid to have her portrait taken in a commercial studio. The finished print would have been an item of considerable personal value. The photograph’s survival suggests it also held value for those who inherited it. As a historian, I might ask: what can this image tell us about class distinctions in the Netherlands? What does her clothing suggest about regional identity? What did it mean to participate in the burgeoning industry of commercial photography? Only by asking such questions can we use this image to understand the culture that produced it.