Drie portretten van Marie Studholme 1900 - 1930

Curator: This photo album page holds three albumen prints known as “Drie portretten van Marie Studholme,” likely taken between 1900 and 1930 by R.W. Thomas. Editor: My immediate response is nostalgia; the faded sepia tones and composition evoke a longing for a bygone era. Curator: These portrait studies of Marie Studholme each offer glimpses into performative femininity through genre scenes. Take, for instance, the left frame where she interacts with a bird in a gilded cage, a visual metaphor for a kept woman, yet rendered gently through pictorialist softness. Editor: That's interesting, especially considering the slightly blurry aesthetic quality which is quite evocative. Note the intentional soft focus that almost dematerializes the figure, blending her with the surrounding foliage. The composition, too, with its framing within the album, further accentuates the image’s planar qualities and emphasizes the inherent artificiality of it. Curator: Indeed. We see Studholme playing different versions of herself: pampered socialite, lady of the manor by her pony, or reclining debutante. All are images intended to evoke very precise meanings about social class, aspirations and a specific type of ideal womanhood that has its roots deep in earlier concepts of beauty and behavior. It makes me think of other representations of women at leisure from much earlier ages! Editor: The stylistic approach to the use of albumen, in these prints, adds a very tangible quality, with a certain delicacy and lightness to these photographic renderings. Curator: Seeing this triptych as a whole highlights the performative aspect. We can see different modes of posing. What do you take from that as a Formalist? Editor: I appreciate the dialogue between the soft, almost ethereal tones, the staging of the sitter and the fact of a very clear sense of construction. There is certainly the clear understanding, from a technical perspective, of pictorial strategies which make for a series of powerful compositions. Curator: Absolutely. I walk away appreciating how the arrangement, the subject, and the technical qualities all reinforce and deepen the messages these photographs convey about social norms, aspirations and the elusive concept of beauty. Editor: I agree. It really underlines the intersection of technique, social performance, and individual character in these photographic artifacts.