Untitled [portrait of an unidentified girl] 1858 - 1869

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, dating from between 1858 and 1869, is attributed to Jeremiah Gurney. It's currently held in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, simply titled, "Untitled [portrait of an unidentified girl]." Editor: Stark. It's remarkably stark, isn't it? The frame alone provides most of the visual interest; otherwise, it's an expanse of blank sepia surrounding the child’s face. Curator: Indeed. Notice how the light falls, mostly from above and slightly to the left, illuminating the girl's face and highlighting the detail in her hair. The central composition focuses us on the face itself, and the eyes draw us in. Editor: The symmetry is disrupted, of course. One curl on the right is more voluminous. I wonder if this asymmetry was intentional, a way of implying personality or breaking from rigid Victorian convention. Curator: Or perhaps the result of circumstance. Consider the era: photographic portraits were uncommon. This image offered the family a way to preserve their child's image, anchoring them within memory. Editor: Certainly, and the curls signify belonging to a social stratum with leisure time, so a mark of status as well, I suppose. Though even the very idea of an 'unidentified' child carries cultural weight...it underscores the losses suffered, the anonymous presence of children from this period. Curator: Absolutely. And those clothes, too, despite being obscured. They speak volumes of expectations placed on young girls. Her steady gaze… is it resilience? Compliance? We can only interpret based on our own cultural memory. Editor: I see, then, a confluence of light, form, and materiality resulting in what Barthes would call a "punctum"--the detail pricking at the viewer’s consciousness. For me, it is how the blank paper contrasts against the darker portrait. It makes it feel suspended in time. Curator: Yes, a ghost in amber, waiting for someone to finally recall her story. It also serves to enhance the child’s face—and the weight it has in the larger image, culturally. Editor: A compelling blend of intention and accident… it allows for unending reading, still speaking across time.