Sèriè à la Ristori 1860s

This photograph was made by Pierre-Louis Pierson in France, sometime in the mid-19th century. It shows a woman in character dress, in the style of the Italian actress Adelaide Ristori. In this period, the new medium of photography was still closely tied to the established institution of theatre, with which it shared an interest in portraying the rituals of middle-class life. Photography democratized the possibility of documentation and display, but it also became deeply entwined with the existing codes of class and celebrity. Pierson's sitter imitates the look and posture of a stage actor, with the props and costume offering a shorthand to a readily understandable social role. To understand these codes better, we can consult sources such as newspapers, playbills, and studio records. What we learn from them enriches our understanding of how the subject and the photographer understood themselves in relation to the cultural landscape of their time. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.