Portret van een staande vrouw met omslagdoek 1860 - 1890

This is a photograph of a standing woman with a shawl, produced by Clarkington & Company. The carte-de-visite, a small photograph mounted on card stock, was a popular format in the mid-19th century. Looking at this image, we might consider how the rise of photography democratized portraiture. Before this, painted portraits were the domain of the wealthy, but now a middle-class sitter could commission an image of themselves. Yet, even in this new medium, social codes remained. The woman's pose is formal, her dress elegant, and her expression reserved. The painted backdrop suggests an idealized, almost aristocratic setting. Clarkington & Company, like many studios, was selling an aspirational image, reinforcing existing social hierarchies even as it expanded access to representation. To fully understand this photograph, we might research the studio's clientele and study etiquette manuals of the period. This helps to reveal the complex interplay of social mobility and cultural norms in the Victorian era.