Portret van de acteur Emil Poulsen als Helmer in Een poppenhuis before 1880

This photograph by J.A. Schulz captures actor Emil Poulsen in character, likely sometime in the late 19th century. It’s a carte-de-visite, a calling card, essentially, made with a process that allowed for multiple prints. Think about the implications of that. Photography, newly industrialized, made it possible to reproduce images on a mass scale. Suddenly, actors and other public figures could be widely disseminated and collected. Looking closely, you can see the material qualities of the photograph. The sepia tone, the slight blurring of the image, the way the light catches on the surface. These aren't flaws, but rather, they speak to the specific time and technology of its making. The card format enabled Schulz to create a valuable commodity from Poulsen's celebrity. Photography democratized portraiture, but it also became another form of consumption. In appreciating this image, we acknowledge the intricate relationship between art, commerce, and the burgeoning culture of celebrity.