[Unknown Sitters] 1855 - 1865

These four cartes-de-visite, or visiting cards, were made by Pierre-Louis Pierson, a photographer active in France during the mid-19th century. These small portraits, likely produced using albumen prints and then delicately hand-painted, speak volumes about the rise of photography in a rapidly industrializing society. The process itself—a blend of photographic precision and artisanal coloring—reflects a transitional moment, when photography was moving from a laborious, specialized craft to a more accessible, mass-producible medium. Each card, though small, involved significant labor: from posing the sitter and preparing the chemicals, to developing the print and carefully applying pigments. The resulting images aren’t just portraits, they’re commodities, tangible representations of social identity circulated within a burgeoning economy of images. These cartes-de-visite democratized portraiture, making it available to a wider segment of society, and blurring the lines between art, craft, and commercial enterprise. The value lies not only in the artistic skill but also in the social and economic context that enabled their creation and distribution.