Untitled (portrait of a girl) c. 1870s

Editor: This is a portrait of a girl by N. T. Morse. It's a small, intimate image, and the sepia tones give it a sense of faded memory. What can you tell me about the context of this photograph? Curator: Consider how the rise of photography democratized portraiture. Before, only the wealthy could afford painted portraits, but now a middle-class family could capture a child’s image. How do you think this availability shaped social perceptions and representations of children? Editor: I guess it allowed for a wider range of images of children to circulate beyond the elite. I hadn't thought about that. Curator: Precisely. This accessibility challenged existing power structures embedded within portraiture, influencing who was seen and remembered. It's fascinating to consider how such a seemingly simple image participates in that shift. Editor: That’s a really interesting perspective. I'll definitely look at these types of photographs differently from now on.