Portret van een onbekende vrouw en twee meisjes 1888 - 1891

Friedrich Carel Hisgen captured this portrait of an unknown woman and two girls using a photographic process, likely in Amsterdam. This photographic print would have been created through a meticulous chemical and mechanical process. The artist was not just pointing and shooting; he was orchestrating a complex interplay of light, chemistry, and composition. The sepia tone, a hallmark of early photography, speaks to the specific materials used – silver salts reacting to light on coated paper. This image’s material presence also speaks volumes about the rise of photography as a business. Hisgen’s name and Amsterdam address indicate the commercial aspect of studio photography, catering to a growing middle class eager to document themselves and their families. Photographs like these, with their inherent connection to the industrial processes of their making, blur the lines between art, craft, and commodity. It reminds us that even seemingly straightforward images are deeply embedded in their social and economic context.