Portret van een vrouw met lorgnet 1883 - 1887

Albert Greiner made this small portrait of a woman with a lorgnette, sometime in the late 19th century. During this period, photography offered new ways to represent identity and social status. Greiner was a photographer working in Amsterdam during a time of evolving social norms and class structures. The woman's direct gaze and formal attire suggest a person of some social standing. The lorgnette, a pair of spectacles held to the eyes with a handle, was a fashionable accessory, often associated with educated, upper-class women. Yet, there’s something that resists easy categorization, perhaps something about the set of her mouth or the determined gleam in her eye. The portrait captures something of the tension between the rigid social expectations of the time and this woman’s individual identity. While the photograph speaks to the sitter's social position, it invites us to consider the unspoken aspects of her life. It prompts us to reflect on the complexities of women's experiences in a rapidly changing world.