Portret van Albert Victor, hertog van Clarence before 1887

Curator: Hmm, a youthful, almost melancholic air about him, wouldn't you say? Editor: This albumen print presents a "Portret van Albert Victor, hertog van Clarence," dating from before 1887. Notice how it is neatly placed in a photo album. In terms of public image, royal portraiture fulfilled very specific functions. Curator: A heartthrob prince trapped behind stiff Edwardian formality! It's fascinating how photography, even then, simultaneously captures and obscures the individual. That's quite a sash he is wearing. Is it heavy looking or am I projecting? Editor: It speaks volumes, doesn't it? Those formal accessories communicated power and lineage, essential for maintaining the monarchy’s image. The sash probably *was* quite heavy. They literally bore the weight of expectation. One wonders about the performance aspect – dressing and posing to become the idea of a royal. Curator: Oh, the performance is key. He looks like a boy playing dress-up. The vacant stare speaks volumes. Photography was such a new medium, yet it was almost immediately tasked with preserving class hierarchies. I wonder, what does it feel like to be preserved this way? It gives me the heebie-jeebies. I always prefer candids. Editor: It is tempting to see that discomfort, the real person peeking through the royal facade, though it is only a possible, romantically appealing, reading. More pragmatically, portraiture offered a visual strategy, deploying imagery across an empire to reinforce dynastic power structures and control. The picture served a political purpose. Curator: I suppose. Though seeing it now, the human element trumps the political for me. A ghost of a boy plays a part, and something in that photograph hints that maybe, he doesn’t really want to. Editor: Interesting how an image, conceived to reinforce power, can, with time, expose vulnerability and invite more critical questions. Curator: Exactly! Maybe the best art reveals even the quietest dissents.