Portret van een vrouw en een man in militair uniform 1850 - 1900

This portrait of a woman and a man in military uniform, most likely a photograph, was made by T. Engelmeyer. The photograph's sepia tone and small size speak to the era of its creation, likely the late 19th or early 20th century. Photography at this time was a meticulous chemical process. Glass plate negatives, coated with light-sensitive emulsion, were exposed in large format cameras. The resulting images, often printed on albumen paper, possessed remarkable detail and tonal range. The subject would have to stay still for a long period of time to achieve this effect. Consider the labor involved in the making of their clothing: the fine stitching, tailoring, and the buttons. This kind of photography and its attendant sartorial displays became accessible to a growing middle class, offering a means of projecting social status and memorializing loved ones. This portrait offers us a window into the social fabric of a bygone era. The way that photographs like these were made, the labor, the subject matter, all contribute to a deeper understanding of this historical moment.