Vier portretten van een onbekende man, opnames gemaakt met verschillende belichtingen before 1891

Loescher and Petsch, K. K. Hofphotographen in Berlin, created this four-part photographic study of an unknown man, using differing light exposures, sometime around 1901. This image is from a time of technological advancement in photography, and we can see the institutional drive to understand and standardize photographic techniques in this very scientific study of light and exposure. The book this image is found in, *Photographische Kunstlehre*, meaning ‘Photographic Art Instruction’, aimed to set out the artistic principles of photography ‘for experts and amateurs.’ The use of an anonymous model underscores the universality of these photographic principles. There’s a democratic element too: photography was then becoming increasingly accessible to the middle classes. The historian can help us understand the social context of this image, consulting photography journals and manuals to understand the debates around photography as art and science. It reminds us that photographic meaning is contingent on social and institutional context.