Luella Emerson, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This is a carte-de-visite, a calling card, depicting Luella Emerson from the Actors and Actresses series for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. It is currently located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Note the compositional balance, which firmly centres the performer against a soft, indistinct backdrop. The sepia tones and the subject’s direct gaze create an intimate viewing experience. The photograph is structured around the interplay of visibility and artifice. Emerson’s elaborate costume and theatrical pose are visual signs, meticulously coded to convey ideas about performance, identity, and beauty. These cards became cultural currency, where the circulation of celebrity images reshaped the boundaries between public and private life. The photographic medium here invites us to consider how it simultaneously captures and constructs reality. As you observe this image, reflect on how such ephemera contributed to the social construction of fame, and how the visual codes embedded within a small format mirror broader cultural values and beliefs of the time.