The Madame B Album c. 1870s

Marie-Blanche Hennelle Fournier made this portrait album, called 'The Madame B Album', in France, sometime in the nineteenth century, using albumen silver prints. Looking at this image, we see the rise of photography as a new technology, and a new means of documenting and preserving social relations. Portraiture had previously been the preserve of the wealthy, but photography made images more readily available. This album may have been produced for a middle-class family, keen to showcase its members and its social standing. Consider the way photography, as an emerging industry, created new social roles. In some ways, it took over the traditional function of painting, but it also made images a part of the everyday lives of a much wider range of people. As art historians, we must consider questions of patronage and taste in understanding how art is produced and received. What expectations did people have of photography in the 19th century? What sources of information do we have for understanding the tastes and interests of the middle classes?