Portret van een vrouw 1860 - 1900

Axel Rydin made this small portrait of a woman with photography, likely sometime in the late 19th century. Photographs like these were often kept in albums. They were a way of displaying and preserving images of family and friends. It’s interesting to think about how the rise of photography changed portraiture. Before, only the wealthy could afford to have their likeness captured in a painting, but photography made portraiture more accessible to the middle classes. In many ways, photography democratized the portrait. Photographs also tell us about the social conventions of the time. The woman in this portrait is formally dressed, with her hair neatly arranged. This tells us about the importance of appearances and the expectations placed on women in this era. By studying photographs, alongside other historical sources, such as letters, diaries, and newspapers, we can get a richer understanding of the past.