Portret van een zittende vrouw 1860 - 1880

Willem Tinker made this portrait of a seated woman, using photography, in the Netherlands. The image, with its oval frame, speaks to the conventions of portraiture in the 19th century. Photography was becoming increasingly accessible to the middle classes, and studios sprang up everywhere to meet the demand for images that could be kept as mementos or tokens of social status. Notice how the sitter is dressed. The high-necked dress and simple hairstyle reflect the conservative values of the time. The portrait captures a moment in the sitter's life, but it also reflects the social norms and expectations of the time. As historians, we can examine photographs like this for clues about the lives of ordinary people. By studying family albums, studio records, and other archival material, we can learn more about the social conditions that shaped the production and consumption of images in the 19th century.