Twee portretten van Lars Mattias Person Nutti en Per Andersen Bilto before 1880

This is a photographic print of two portraits by Paolo Mantegazza. The subjects are Lars Mattias Person Nutti and Per Andersen Bilto. These images are striking because they reflect the development of scientific and anthropological methods in the 19th century. Mantegazza, an Italian physician and anthropologist, was part of a broader European movement to document and classify different human populations, often reinforcing existing social hierarchies. Consider the power dynamics at play. What does it mean for a European scientist to photograph and classify members of the Sami community? How might the subjects have perceived this encounter? What assumptions were embedded in Mantegazza’s approach? What institutional resources were used? To fully understand this image, we need to delve into the history of anthropology, colonialism, and photography itself. By examining photographs like these through a critical lens, we can better understand how visual culture has shaped our understanding of the world.