Portret van een onbekende vrouw, mogelijk jonkvrouw Van Teylingen c. 1851 - 1883

Curator: Before us, we have a photographic print entitled “Portret van een onbekende vrouw, mogelijk jonkvrouw Van Teylingen,” attributed to Johan Hendrik Hoffmeister, and estimated to have been created between 1851 and 1883. It’s a gelatin silver print. Editor: My first impression is one of quiet solemnity. The muted tones, combined with the woman's gaze, give a feeling of contemplative isolation. There is subtle lighting that focuses your attention, however, she is oddly blurred, with very harsh lines where the subject stops being present in the picture. Curator: I’m struck by the details of the print-making process here, how Hoffmeister was navigating a relatively new technology. Gelatin silver prints became the dominant photographic process during this period, but they still demanded precise work in the darkroom. The final tonality and definition rested so much on the skill and even access to certain resources of the producer. Editor: Agreed, however, if you remove yourself from the history behind the photo print itself, you see a rather basic structural composition at play: a triangular form from the sitter's shoulders up, framed by a circular backdrop. Curator: Looking at this period through the lens of production gives me a better insight into how individuals within a rigid social hierarchy wanted to portray themselves through available means of image-making. The photograph itself can become a form of commodity. Her presentation would be reliant on how she wishes the wider public to see her. Editor: I understand the importance of socioeconomic status informing identity, yet this sitter’s soft clothing creates this rather demure quality about the photo, that her posture then only adds to this somber tone, without those aspects her social positioning means very little from an artistic perspective. Curator: Her body language becomes a statement; this portrait can only show us a very limited scope of the production involved, where labour divisions existed in portrait studios at this time to serve a very wealthy demographic. So there's also a story about access here, a visual expression of hierarchy made visible. Editor: So in essence we are back at our point where we initially diverged, that is, identity being so pivotal to creating certain photographic aesthetics. The work is simply brimming with nuanced approaches to an individual’s experience during this romantic epoch. Curator: This piece shows that material reality underpins so much artistic expression and allows viewers today to further question why things appear so specifically staged.