Portret van Cornelia Maria Bon 1883 - 1888

Editor: This is “Portret van Cornelia Maria Bon,” taken sometime between 1883 and 1888 by Louis Robert Werner, and it's an albumen print. It feels incredibly intimate to see a photograph displayed within the leaves of an album. How do you see this piece? Curator: The photograph itself is just one material element. I’m more interested in the photograph album as an assembled object, a form of early mass production and domestic consumption. Notice the texture of the album cover, the way the pages are bound, and the small metal clasp holding it all together. Editor: I hadn't considered the album itself as a manufactured object of the time. Curator: Exactly! This wasn't a unique work created solely by an artist, but part of a much larger industrial process. Think about the labor involved in sourcing the materials, producing the paper, printing the photographs, and assembling the albums themselves. These portraits weren't just art; they were commodities, products of a booming photography industry, enabling mass-produced images. Editor: That shifts my understanding of the image itself. Instead of solely seeing a portrait of a little girl, I can consider the cultural and economic context. What might have motivated families to acquire and display these albums? Curator: Partly, the burgeoning middle class eager to participate in material culture. Albums like these became ways of demonstrating prosperity and preserving family memory, creating narratives of upward mobility. This image highlights the intersection of art, craft, and consumerism during the late 19th century. It begs us to consider the process of how this image came to be. Editor: I’m really starting to see the portrait in an entirely new way. Thank you for illuminating the materials and their importance. Curator: My pleasure. It's always worthwhile considering how art reflects and reinforces broader social and economic systems.