Portret van een staande man met bakkebaarden 1855 - 1880

Alfred Brothers made this albumen print of a gentleman with sideburns sometime in the mid-19th century. The small portrait is mounted into an album. The choice of the albumen print indicates this photograph was likely created in England during the Victorian era, when photography studios popped up in major cities. The sitter’s attire, including the frock coat and clerical collar, suggests he was a member of the clergy. Brothers has posed his subject with all the trappings of success and intellectualism - a bookshelf, curtains and heavy furniture. These were all signifiers of Victorian respectability. In this period, the rising middle classes used photography to capture their likeness. These kinds of portrait studios democratized the practice of portraiture, once the domain of the upper classes and their painted portraits. Photography created new forms of social documentation, but it also provided a way for people to assert and perform their desired social roles. We can use census records and period directories to further investigate the social status of the sitter and the photographer. Such information helps us contextualize the picture and its place in Victorian society.