Portret van een jongen 1872 - 1879

Curator: This is a striking example of late 19th-century portraiture, a photograph entitled "Portret van een jongen," or "Portrait of a Boy," made sometime between 1872 and 1879 by Hendrik Anthonie Karel Ringler. Editor: What grabs me immediately is the subject's gaze; it is so direct, unflinching almost. The sepia tone lends a soft focus, but it cannot hide the firmness of his expression. Curator: The direct gaze was quite intentional in early photography, it emphasized an inner truth. This young man is neatly framed within an oval, nestled in an ornate card. These conventions speak to the rising middle class who sought to emulate the gentry through portraiture. The carte-de-visite, these small photographs, became incredibly popular. Editor: The boy’s austere clothing furthers that effect. No frills or lace here; it’s about the very essence of representing someone within this controlled format, within this highly stylized presentation. One might infer that this image attempts to assert middle-class respectability during that era, but what about the background? The negative space beyond the frame provides a very stark visual juxtaposition. Curator: Indeed, photography had become democratized. By commissioning this photograph, the parents likely wanted to suggest social ascension for their son, in contrast with any raw backdrop and reality of life at that time. Photography then walks this tightrope: representing a family's reality, and constructing a representation that strives for something higher, a mark of aspirational social mobility. Editor: Do you find a trace of unease in his stare? He has an awareness beyond his years; I’m moved by the palpable presence conveyed across time. I look at him and want to imagine the type of challenges that awaited this child within the broader frame of Dutch life and its socio-economic conditions during that era. Curator: Indeed, this single image gives us the opportunity to meditate on what might await this person. Looking closely, one finds a record of cultural rituals and societal practices rendered in subtle monochromatic tonality, revealing more to us now than they perhaps revealed to his parents when it was made.