Portret van een jonge vrouw 1865 - 1887

Curator: So, we have before us Jan George Mulder's gelatin silver print, "Portret van een jonge vrouw," estimated to have been taken sometime between 1865 and 1887. I find it utterly haunting, it's like catching a whisper from another time. Editor: Well, I wouldn't use "utterly haunting." Intriging, perhaps. Look at the tonality. The restricted palette creates a certain formality. The oval frame further isolates the figure, compelling one to examine the interplay between light and shadow, the soft gradations on her face, her costume... it is quite refined. Curator: Formal, yes, but beyond that careful pose, look at her eyes! Do you think she wanted to be photographed? There's a certain defiance there, mixed with, perhaps, melancholy. Like she is both present and pulling away at the same time. Editor: A trained formalist always returns to the basics. The portrait occupies the upper central portion of the frame with her gaze engaging us directly and dominating the scene; such direct visual engagements must be taken into consideration before emotional judgements can be issued. The soft, pictorialist style almost certainly blurs any intended reading in any event. Curator: I guess. Still, that stern look! The delicate ornamentation on her blouse suggests some status, a bit of wealth perhaps, but there is, maybe, anxiety, in those tightly bound buttons that suggests more than just wealth can account for. Or perhaps I'm just too drawn to narratives! Editor: Narratives risk confusing emotion with context. Let us appreciate the photograph for what it is—the photograph, its structure and elements working in concert with one another, instead of an imagined storyline that may lead to pure subjectivity and undermine the object's structural values. The soft focus typical of the pictorialist movement does invite, admittedly, interpretation, as it softens details... but that is due more to technique than conscious intervention. Curator: Perhaps, you're right and it's all smoke and mirrors. Still, the mystery of this image captivates. We know so little about her, and yet, in her gaze, I imagine so much! Editor: An approach fraught with interpretive difficulties; though it highlights photography's ambiguous capacity as historical artifact, I admit the work is not without complexity.