Kind rijdt paardje op rug van vader 1879

This stereoscopic photograph, made in Berlin around 1879 by Sophus Williams, depicts a scene titled 'Vaterfreuden,' or 'Father's Joy.' It's a genre scene, fabricated in the studio, yet the image relies entirely on the relatively new technology of photography. The figures are posed formally, in an elaborate interior, but it's the father's embodied labor that captures our attention. He is positioned on all fours, acting as a human horse for his child. The photograph serves as a social commentary, where the father's literal ‘horsepower’ reflects the domestic roles and expectations of the era. Consider how the photographic process itself, with its dependence on light, chemicals, and mechanical reproduction, parallels the industrialized labor outside the family home. Williams asks us to consider the material conditions that make the image possible, inviting us to rethink the relationship between work, family, and leisure.