Portret van een man 1917 - 1921

‘Portret van een man’ was created at the Photographie Americaine, with photography. This portrait, mounted in a decorative album page, offers a glimpse into the visual culture of its time. The subject, a man in a suit and bow tie, embodies a certain aspiration to respectability and middle-class identity. The ‘Photographie Americaine’ studio, hints at the global exchange of photographic techniques and styles. The creation of affordable portraiture allowed for wider social representation, democratizing image-making. But it also shaped social norms through conventions of pose, dress, and expression. What can we learn from such an image? The historian might look into the archives of studios like ‘Photographie Americaine’, tracing their business practices, clientele, and aesthetic choices. Social histories of dress, class, and gender might illuminate the meanings invested in the portrait’s visual codes. In this way, we can understand art as something inseparable from social and institutional forces.