Photographes et photographiés, from Tirage Unique de Trente-Six Bois Possibly 1862 - 1920

Curator: What a wry observation of the emerging photographic era! This print by Charles Maurand, "Photographes et photographiés, from Tirage Unique de Trente-Six Bois", made sometime between 1862 and 1920, captures a moment of… discomfort. Editor: Yes, discomfort is spot on. The stiff pose, the strained expression—the sitter looks like he’s enduring a medieval torture! All that swirling line work creates a palpable tension. The artist clearly aimed to mock the entire process of portraiture. Curator: Indeed. Maurand uses caricature to great effect here. Photography in its early days was often seen as a tool of bourgeois self-promotion. This image presents an antidote—a jab at that vanity, suggesting the artifice and the, frankly, tediousness of posing for a photograph. The context of history-painting is also an important detail, where one’s personal life was showcased in a dramatized moment to make them look and seem ‘heroic’, regardless of its reality. Editor: And note the photographer himself – a somewhat sinister figure lurking behind the lens, almost like a puppet master. He’s the modern Pygmalion who’s actually extracting his subjects very being through art! We have this powerful dichotomy of photographer versus photographed. Curator: Right! The wood engraving allows for a remarkable level of detail. And look closely at that camera – it's almost anthropomorphic. The rigid boxy shape and support system look mechanical. There is no emotion on either side of this process: you sit still, or risk being nothing more than a smudge on glass. Editor: Precisely, it's that tension between the promise of photographic accuracy and the rather grotesque reality that makes this so compelling. It makes me wonder, what kind of memory Maurand wanted to construct, not for the sitter but society as a whole? Is photography as true a medium as everyone claims, or does it make fools of us all? Curator: Food for thought, and a telling reflection on the democratization of portraiture and the anxieties that accompanied it. Editor: Agreed. It’s fascinating how an image of such simple composition can hold so many layered insights into culture and societal evolution.