Groepsportret met vier kinderen 1865 - 1887

This photograph of four children was made by Jan George Mulder in the Netherlands at an unknown date. The image speaks to a transformation in social life and institutional practice across the 19th century, namely the rise of the middle class and of photography. The children's clothing and the studio backdrop suggest a family of some means, keen to display its status. Photographic studios proliferated in Dutch cities at this time. They served a growing market of middle-class families eager to memorialize themselves and assert their place in the social order. The photograph, displayed in a family album, becomes a tool for constructing a family narrative and cementing social bonds. To fully understand the picture's meaning, we would want to research the history of Dutch photography, study the fashion and design trends of the time, and examine the social history of the Dutch middle class. The meaning of this artwork is thus deeply embedded in its social and institutional context.