Portret van Georges Gheude before 1880

This printed memorial album for Georges Gheude, dating from 1886, bears a photographic portrait. It's worth considering photography as a material culture. The photographic image is made through a complex interaction of light, chemistry and technology, a process that was becoming increasingly accessible during this period. Here, the subject, Gheude, an avocat, is meticulously captured and presented in a formal oval frame. This speaks to the emergent culture of photographic portraiture as a means of memorialization, and status. The memorial album itself is also a product of industrialization, with machine-made paper, printed text and reproduced photographs indicating new possibilities for mass production. Look closely and you can see the texture of the paper, feel the weight of the album, and consider the hands that assembled it. Each element, from the photographic print to the printed page, highlights how mechanical reproduction had begun to play a crucial role in shaping personal and collective memory. Thinking about the labor, materials, and social context of the work reveals its deeper cultural resonance, and how even seemingly simple objects can offer insights into the relationship between art, craft, and society.