Portret van een jonge man met vlinderstrik c. 1865

This is a photograph of a young man, made by Palmer Descamps sometime in the second half of the 19th century. It's a small object, only 85 by 51 millimeters, which tells us something about its original purpose. This wouldn't have been considered high art, but rather an affordable way for people to have their likeness recorded. Photography was an industrializing process at this time, increasingly available to the middle classes. Note the man’s neat bow tie and jacket. The rise of photography went hand in hand with that of the bourgeoisie, so eager to participate in visual culture. Descamps would have needed technical mastery, working with light, lenses and developing processes. But ultimately, his business depended on the broader economy. This image is a tangible record of the changing landscape of labor, consumption and aspiration in the 19th century.