Fotoreproductie van een schilderij, voorstellende een portret van Augustus Hare en zijn drie broers tussen wolken before 1876

Editor: This is a photo reproduction of a painting entitled "Portrait of Augustus Hare and his three brothers between clouds", made before 1876. It is photography printed over a photograph. What’s interesting about a photograph of a painting portraying someone ascending towards heaven? Curator: Well, we have a reproductive medium – photography – disseminating an image initially created through the skilled labor of painting. I see it as less about "heaven" and more about how images of power and privilege were circulated. The Hare family, like many others, used these technologies to propagate a carefully crafted image. Consider the expense and effort involved in commissioning the original painting, and then further reproducing it via photography. What does that tell us? Editor: It sounds like the painting wasn’t enough, they needed a reproducible image to maintain or signal status to their community. This reproductive element further emphasizes the act of visual distribution… and perhaps manipulation of the image, no? Curator: Precisely. We should ask how photography, at the time still a relatively new medium, served the needs of the elite. Was it about democratization of images, or simply a new tool for reinforcing existing hierarchies? Furthermore, think about the labor involved: the photographer, the printer, all contributing to this…assembly line of status. And note how different levels of artistic creation comingle. Do you notice anything about how they were portrayed? Editor: They appear rather angelic and ethereal, positioned amidst the clouds; it is hard to tell who exactly produced the work to begin with… Are you suggesting this representation aims to sanitize their history or legitimize their lineage? Curator: It certainly presents a specific, idealized version. But think about the very *act* of commissioning such a portrait. What kind of social or family stories were they intending to write about themselves? Who was able to do it? Editor: That’s true, that in itself would dictate the accessibility of such imagery. Curator: Indeed. It reminds me how accessible this would be nowadays…food for thought about the image circulation machine. Editor: Well, it definitely reframed my way of considering not just the portrait itself but the medium, and how intertwined that is to material condition.