Portret van een zittende vrouw met een peuter op schoot en een staand meisje 1860 - 1900

This is a photographic portrait by J. Bourens, capturing a seated woman with two children. The print itself is a chemical alchemy, an image conjured through light-sensitive materials. Photography in this period, especially portraiture, was a booming industry. It democratized image-making, but also relied heavily on specialized labor. The photographer, like Bourens, was a skilled technician, part artist, part entrepreneur. The subjects' clothing is significant, too. The matching plaid dresses suggest a certain level of middle-class affluence, a deliberate presentation of family unity and prosperity. Consider the labor involved in producing these textiles: from growing the raw materials to weaving and tailoring. Each garment represents a complex web of production and consumption, mirroring the photographic process itself. The photograph is not just an image, but a material artifact, deeply enmeshed with the social and economic conditions of its time. It prompts us to consider the many hands involved in its making, and the stories it silently tells about labor, class, and aspiration.