Untitled (Portrait of Seated Man with Hat in Lap) 1850 - 1899

Curator: Up next we have an intriguing photographic piece, a gelatin silver print entitled "Untitled (Portrait of Seated Man with Hat in Lap)." It comes to us from sometime between 1850 and 1899. Editor: The very first thing I see is melancholy; the somber tone almost vibrates off of it. There is something about the gaze, so direct, but also carrying such quiet weariness. And that severely damaged hat—that has definitely seen some years, some wear. Curator: Right. What’s fascinating is the confluence of the burgeoning photographic process and the subject's potential socioeconomic circumstances, don't you think? A somewhat everyday scene elevated. Editor: Definitely. Think about the time and the craft that went into creating just one of these images; it makes you wonder about the hands and the minds that worked to create this moment and this lasting image. The materials used—the gelatin, the silver—were not just components, they were precious in a way that digitized images today just aren't. Curator: It feels almost voyeuristic to gaze into his eyes, frozen in that instant, considering the intimacy between the sitter and photographer. Does his apparent plainness enhance or diminish its worth as art, considering other prevailing social portraitures? It has an unaffected realism to it. Editor: That question hits at the very heart of the supposed schism between art and craft. Who determined a portrait in oils of the wealthy was "high art," but a poignant silver gelatin print such as this could be considered everyday, genre, or craft? This photograph reminds us that every artwork embodies a negotiation of skill, materials, labor, and its consumption by the viewer. Curator: Perhaps what moves me most is what the photograph elides. His eyes don't tell all, of course. A sliver of a past is here, yes, but it’s only ever going to be a glimpse. A question forever hangs, unresolved, like the man suspended between sitting and standing. Editor: Indeed. This makes me reflect upon how every creation embodies human experience, recorded in the labor, the materials and, the consumption. It certainly underscores that a picture can be worth far more than a thousand words.