Portret van een onbekende vrouw bij een stoel 1855 - 1885

John George Kirby created this albumen print photograph of an unknown woman in London. The albumen process, which involves coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate, was a popular method for creating photographic prints in the 19th century. The resulting image has a distinctive sepia tone and a smooth, glossy surface, made by the proteins in the egg white. The woman's dress looks to be made of a patterned material, and the high level of detail would have been made possible by the highly skilled work of dressmakers and textile workers, who often toiled in difficult conditions. This makes you wonder about the economics of the fashion industry. Kirby's photograph, with its attention to the material details of both the photographic process and the woman's attire, invites us to consider the labor and skill involved in both making and representing images of women in the 19th century.