Untitled (seven photographs, clockwise from upper left, Col. Farquharson; Reginald Thynne Esq.; Col. Tower; Lord William Hay; Captain Speirs; Honorable Harris Temple; center, Lord Vivian) 1862 - 1888

Editor: This is an untitled photographic album page by Mary Georgiana Caroline Cecil Filmer. It includes seven portraits of men, likely aristocrats, arranged in a decorative collage. What stories do you think these portraits tell? Curator: We see here a fascinating intersection of class, gender, and representation. Filmer, a woman, is photographing men of power. Consider the context: Who controlled the photographic gaze, and what narratives were they constructing through it? How does gender factor into the power dynamics within these portraits? Editor: That's interesting. So, it's not just about the men, but also about who is behind the camera? Curator: Exactly. We might even ask, what were Filmer's intentions in capturing these figures? What does it mean to curate masculinity through this particular lens? These are the questions that challenge our understanding of the image. Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. It completely changes how I see the piece.