Portret van een onbekende vrouw 1864 - 1882

This portrait of an unknown woman was made in Stockholm by Rosalie Sophie Sjöman, one of Sweden’s first professional female photographers. It's a carte-de-visite, a small paper photograph mounted on a thicker card. These were wildly popular in the mid-19th century as calling cards and collectibles. The albumen print process used here involved coating paper with egg white and then silver nitrate, making it sensitive to light. The negative was then placed on the paper and exposed to sunlight. The resulting print has a warm tone and a smooth surface. The carte-de-visite’s popularity was tied to industrialization and the rise of a middle class eager to participate in visual culture. Photography became more accessible, shifting portraiture from a luxury for the wealthy to a widely available commodity. Sjöman was a savvy businesswoman who ran a successful studio, employing assistants to meet the demand. This little portrait, multiplied and circulated, speaks volumes about the democratization of image-making in the 19th century. It reminds us that even seemingly simple objects can carry complex social and economic histories.