Portret van een onbekende man 1855 - 1885

This is an undated portrait of an unknown man by H. Laurent, a carte-de-visite, that little rectangle of photographic paper that was oh-so popular in the mid-19th century. Photographs like this one were a roaring trade. But I wonder, what did it mean to have your likeness taken at this moment in time? It feels like this man, whoever he was, wanted to participate in the modern world, to document his existence, to make himself known. Perhaps he felt pride in his position. The slight blurring gives it a ghostly quality, as if he is here and not here at all. While it perpetuates the conventions of portraiture and social class, we can still pause and reflect on the image's ability to preserve a moment, a face, and a life that might otherwise be lost to time.