The Madame B Album c. 1870s

This is one page from the Madame B Album, assembled by Marie-Blanche Hennelle Fournier, a fascinating object of vernacular photography. The image itself is a collodian print, a process that democratized photography by making it easier to reproduce. But what is most striking is the elaborate plaster frame surrounding the portrait. It's an explosion of putti, eagles, foliage, and rococo swirls. This wasn't made by Hennelle Fournier, but likely purchased in a shop. The photographer may have been an amateur, but the consumer culture that supported her was not. This combination of the personal and the mass-produced invites us to consider the wider social context of photography at the time. The album, a symbol of middle-class domesticity, brought together the intimacy of family life with the burgeoning industries of photography and decorative arts. This convergence challenges traditional notions of art, reminding us that meaning is found in the everyday practices of making and consumption.