Portret van een onbekende jonge vrouw op een stoel 1879 - 1881

This portrait of an unknown young woman was produced by the Cordes Brothers. It’s a carte-de-visite, a small albumen print on paper. These photographs were part of a booming industry in the late 19th century, enabled by standardized chemical processes and mass production. What was once a rare, expensive procedure became democratized. Photography studios popped up everywhere. Consider the material reality of this image, and the labor involved. From mining the silver used in the emulsion to the darkroom technicians developing the prints, the carte-de-visite was the product of an increasingly complex web of industrial capitalism. The final product, however, is intimate. This specific image may have been circulated among family and friends, cherished as a personal memento. These photographs offer a glimpse into the daily lives of ordinary people, capturing a sense of both individuality and the broader social forces at play. They invite us to consider the complex relationship between art, technology, labor, and consumption in the modern world.