Portret van een onbekend kind, zittend op een tafel 1880 - 1920

Editor: Here we have an intriguing gelatin silver print, taken between 1880 and 1920 by Johannes Franciscus Hennequin, called *Portret van een onbekend kind, zittend op een tafel* – Portrait of an unknown child, sitting on a table. The child’s direct gaze makes me a little uneasy. What’s your read on this piece? Curator: It’s important to recognize that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, portrait photography like this served a significant social function, particularly for the burgeoning middle class. The photograph became a way to record and solidify family identity and social standing, often mirroring the conventions of painted portraiture, though more affordable. This specific work uses props, like the table and the clothing, as signifiers of that social standing. Do you notice any other indications? Editor: Well, the formality, perhaps? The stiff pose feels almost forced. The fact it’s in a studio seems to further distance it from any real intimacy, focusing on a representation of childhood, not necessarily the reality. Curator: Exactly. The very act of staging, from the studio setting to the careful styling, constructs a certain public image. We have to consider what it meant to present one’s family and children in this way, given evolving notions of childhood and family within a specific socio-economic stratum. Who this child *is* becomes secondary to what they *represent*. It’s an interesting early case study of constructed image and social performance. Editor: It is quite a fascinating tension between wanting to capture a likeness and wanting to project a particular image. I hadn’t really thought about it that way before. Thank you! Curator: And understanding those dynamics helps us look critically at photographic portraits today, doesn’t it? Seeing how even “simple” portraits participate in broader cultural narratives.