Portret van mevrouw Manara before 1863

Curator: Let’s dive into this striking piece, simply titled "Portret van mevrouw Manara," a photograph captured before 1863, currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. The photographer's name is Adolphe Anjoux, and he made it with the albumen print technique. Editor: Oh, the portrait exhales a kind of contained melancholy, doesn't it? There’s an intimacy despite the formal pose. The gray scale does something… almost poetic, doesn’t it? It focuses our attention, but her face, in that muted palette… invites empathy. Curator: Absolutely. Looking at this portrait through a feminist lens, it's interesting how Madame Manara is positioned. The genre portrait and her attire obviously speak of status, yet her pose also has a degree of weariness, almost vulnerability. Editor: That hand, gently resting on the ledge... it feels significant. I mean, this image is far removed from the contemporary performativity we witness nowadays. Perhaps photography hadn’t yet grown comfortable staging those superficial versions of reality that proliferate social media today. Do you sense something of this, as well? Curator: It brings up so many conversations about representation, particularly regarding women in the mid-19th century. In art historical discourse, portraiture often becomes a vehicle for negotiating power dynamics. Was it her own hand to lean over like that or the artist's idea? That would give more content about how photography allows even the most bourgeois women a space of self-definition or to claim certain freedom from within conventions of femininity. Editor: A vital point, indeed! The photograph becomes a social document, unintentionally capturing societal constraints along with personal character. I like to see this. But regardless of context, the soft focus adds another layer of dreamlike vulnerability. In addition, that huge flounced skirt speaks volumes about the burden of 19th-century femininity and even, as you alluded before, status and wealth. Curator: Indeed. All things considered, this is one piece that shows us photography at its most nascent—both as a technical medium and as an avenue for representation. Editor: Leaving me reflecting on what freedom felt and looked like for women not too long ago. Food for thought for modern viewers today.