Linda Farian, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

Editor: Here we have an albumen print, part of the Actors and Actresses series, dating from 1886 to 1890. It features Linda Farian and was produced by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes. It feels quite staged, almost like a theatrical backdrop. What strikes you most about this piece? Curator: What immediately catches my attention is the commodification inherent in the production of this card. Albumen prints, in this context, become a vehicle for promoting consumer culture, specifically tobacco. Think about the labor involved: harvesting tobacco, manufacturing cigarettes, photographing performers, printing these cards, and the distribution networks. It's a whole system feeding off desire. Editor: So you see the actress, Linda Farian, primarily as a worker, almost as part of a production line? Curator: Exactly. The photographic print, typically considered fine art, here blurs the lines between art, advertising, and industrial production. Consider the source of the material: albumen, derived from egg whites. A seemingly fragile substance, integral to mass-producing these cards. It questions our notions of value and preciousness in art. How are these images circulated, consumed, and discarded? Editor: That makes me think about how fleeting fame can be. These were distributed with cigarettes, meant to be collected, traded, but ultimately probably discarded, just like the cigarette packaging itself. It's like planned obsolescence, applied to art and celebrity. Curator: Precisely! This little card reveals a complex interplay between consumerism, the celebrity machine, and the material processes that underpin them. Even the 'Old Judge Cigarettes' branding is material, shaping how we perceive the image itself. Editor: I never thought about an image being part of the industrial process itself! Now, I see it as a tiny piece of a much larger economic puzzle. Curator: Indeed. By examining the materiality of the artwork, we unravel broader socio-economic forces at play.