Portret van een onbekende vrouw 1875 - 1886

Editor: This is "Portret van een onbekende vrouw," or Portrait of an Unknown Woman, dating from around 1875 to 1886. It’s an albumen print on paper by Dahllöf & Co. It’s quite striking; the textures of the velvet and the detail in the lace are incredible. How should we interpret this work? Curator: What strikes me is the tangible quality of this photograph. Think about albumen printing— egg whites used to bind the light-sensitive chemicals to the paper. It's not just an image; it's a physical layering of materials, of processes enacted by labor. The paper support, the careful posing of the subject, and then the chemistry itself. All become crucial elements. What do you make of that relationship to labor? Editor: It feels like the materials and the photographic process itself become part of the meaning, like the very making of it is the message? Curator: Exactly. We need to ask who had access to these portrait studios and what that reveals about social mobility, and class distinctions. Consider the material reality: clothes of a certain quality that mark position, that somebody had to make, and who can then afford this modern means of preservation that will only benefit them. Is this photographic print then participating in reinforcing these conditions? Editor: It does give you a different way of thinking about the portrait – it’s more than just a likeness; it’s a product of social and economic forces. Curator: Precisely! Seeing the materiality allows us to read a wider context into what at first seems a straightforward image. We've explored the connection between production and class through photographic print and, by looking at it from a Materialist perspective, we can start asking complex questions about the consumption of these goods in society. Editor: That’s definitely given me a fresh perspective on how to look at photographic portraits! Thank you.