Marian Ward 1869 - 1874

Curator: Looking at "Marian Ward," a gelatin-silver print captured between 1869 and 1874 by Jeremiah Gurney, housed here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, what strikes you first? Editor: The downcast eyes! It lends her such an air of melancholic introspection. Almost like a pre-Raphaelite painting. But also, those elaborate earrings and that boned cap... they tell such a story. Curator: Right, the details really sing. For me, it’s the way Gurney’s playing with light and shadow, drawing attention to both her vulnerability and her status as a proper Victorian lady. Notice the slight blurring; there’s a dreamlike quality despite the relatively new photographic technique at the time. Editor: Precisely. It's interesting how photographic portraiture aimed to capture 'likeness' but ended up encoding so much more – aspirations, social codes, inner states. The jewelry she wears, a cross-shaped dangle, whispers piety or simply affluence. The bonnet, though it has its frivolity, is subdued. I’m seeing constraint meeting fashion. Curator: A balancing act of identity indeed. These weren't snapshot moments; sittings could be lengthy, almost ceremonial. And of course, the very act of commissioning such a portrait...a way to secure oneself in visual memory. Think of family legacies, loved ones far away. Editor: It goes even further, I believe, offering viewers a glimpse into a fleeting historical world through how individuals portrayed their internal states using sartorial and bodily gestures. This form of photograph acted almost as a social time capsule to be opened up for examination in later periods, right? The past speaking through present sensibilities... Curator: In a way. Though what's spoken may always have many dialects... thanks for pointing us toward new intonations. Editor: Gladly. There is much more to be unearthed, image upon image, it feels sometimes.