Untitled (Portrait of Woman Holding a Baby) 1862

This is an anonymous portrait of a woman holding a baby, rendered in the daguerreotype process. In this early form of photography, a polished silvered copper plate was treated with fumes to make it light-sensitive, placed in a camera, exposed for a certain time, and then chemically treated to produce a direct positive image. Photography in the United States from the 1840s onward democratized portraiture, which had previously been the preserve of the well-to-do. Now, those of more modest means could participate, commissioning affordable images of themselves and their loved ones. The rise of photography coincided with new ideas about the family and the home as a private sphere and portraits of mothers and children were particularly popular. As historians, we can learn about the expansion of the middle class, the changing roles of women, and the history of photographic technology. The visual culture of any period is the product of complex social and economic relationships.