[Ludwig von Löfftz] 1860s

Curator: This portrait, a gelatin silver print, is believed to be Ludwig von Löfftz, captured in the 1860s by Franz Werner. It's now held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: It feels incredibly intimate, doesn't it? The sepia tones give it a sort of nostalgic aura, but the direct gaze is almost confrontational. There is texture in the way his tweed coat looks and also in the tie and beard, giving the picture a strong presence. Curator: Precisely. In terms of its symbolism, we have a fairly standard Romantic-era portrait. The man's sideways glance represents inner thought. Even the unfocused quality is a knowing signal of intellectual profundity, signaling an era where artistic genius was the focus. Editor: I'm interested in how photography, specifically the gelatin silver process, democratized portraiture at this time. How did that influence the economics and culture of the 1860s? This print feels far removed from painted aristocratic portraiture in how available this may have made portraiture to new clienteles. Curator: Yes, it really does stand in opposition. I mean, portraiture was previously exclusively for the elite, communicating power through clothing and style of expression. Here, we have an engagement with this legacy in a new accessible form. A photograph made using light, not pigments wielded with authority. Editor: Right, think about the material process itself, requiring skilled photographers and chemists but allowing for multiples! The labor shifted, not disappearing. What does the photographic print itself signify? Ephemerality, reproduction, new class aspirations perhaps. Curator: I see your point. Yet, it's the lingering aura of artistry that holds sway here for me. It also expresses deep-seated anxieties and beliefs about artmaking itself, doesn’t it? How this image is crafted really creates emotional response through symbols that endure to this day. Editor: Ultimately, what interests me here are the social shifts signaled by the medium itself. Even seemingly individual expression as we see here must also be understood by social shifts that it emerges from and perpetuates. Curator: I think that makes for an insightful point of consideration. It shows a historical moment as it echoes through all the history of the genre to this point. Editor: It does! We see both echoes and the making of history through these methods, materials and processes.