Portret van Joseph Lovering before 1875

This is a photographic portrait of Joseph Lovering by an unknown maker. This image can tell us a lot about the democratizing effects of photography. Lovering’s status as a professor at Harvard University would have certainly placed him within the elite circles of the mid-19th century American academy. Yet, the photograph, a relatively inexpensive medium by this time, allowed for his image to be replicated and circulated in ways that a painted portrait never could. This small portrait, pasted into a book, is an intimate document, yet it also speaks to the increasing accessibility of image-making during this period. To understand this work further, we might consult the records of Harvard University to learn more about Lovering’s social and intellectual circles. More broadly, we might consider the ways in which photography altered the relationship between elites and the wider public during this pivotal period in American history.