Portret van een zittende baby en een staand meisje 1889 - 1925

This small photograph of a seated baby and standing girl was created by Josephus Hendrikus Petrus Coppens. We don't have an exact date for it, but we can tell a lot about it simply by considering the materials and process used to make it. This is a gelatin silver print, a process which dominated photography for over a century. This process involves coating paper with a light-sensitive emulsion of silver halides in gelatin. The tonal range is achieved in the darkroom, with the manipulation of chemicals. In this case, the result is a sepia tone, giving a warmth and depth to the image. Considering the social context, photography like this democratized portraiture. It allowed middle-class families to commission images of their children, something previously reserved for the wealthy. Though the children's clothing suggests some affluence, the photograph itself speaks to broader social trends and new modes of production and consumption in image making.