Lillian Lewis, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Editor: Here we have a photograph from 1890, titled "Lillian Lewis, from the Actresses series (N245)" by Kinney Brothers, produced as an albumen print. It's a very intimate, almost melancholic, portrait. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the commodification of artistry and femininity. The Kinney Brothers weren’t making art; they were leveraging celebrity – Lillian Lewis, an actress – to move Sweet Caporal cigarettes. This albumen print, a mass-producible image, isn’t just a portrait, it's an early form of advertising, intimately linked to consumer culture and the creation of desire. Consider the labour involved: from the photographers to the factory workers producing cigarettes and prints for wide distribution. Editor: So, it's less about the art of the photograph itself, and more about the industrial and consumer context it was created within? Curator: Exactly. How does the actress's likeness, captured through a specific photographic process designed for mass reproduction, become another component of the cigarette industry’s vast network? How does the cigarette function within the economy? How is Lewis herself complicit? These are crucial questions. Editor: That’s a fascinating way to look at it, it feels almost cynical, but completely recontextualizes it. Instead of appreciating the subject's beauty, we examine its function within a larger system. Curator: It allows us to explore the intersection of art, commerce, and identity in the late 19th century. Material considerations of both cigarettes and prints take center stage, while pushing a single actress from center stage. Editor: I guess I usually consider aesthetic intent first. I will consider how artistic practice, labor, and material meet the culture in my future museum visits. Thanks!