[Seated Man Pointing to a Passage in an Open Book] 1853 - 1859

"Seated Man Pointing to a Passage in an Open Book" is a 19th-century salt print photograph by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, a prominent English photographer. The image captures a man seated in a chair, his right hand pointing to an open book on his lap, and his left hand resting on his knee. Mayall was known for his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to capture the personality of his subjects. This photograph, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, is a classic example of 19th-century portraiture, a genre that was popular among the middle and upper classes. The photograph exemplifies Mayall's mastery of the salt print process, a technique that was widely used in the early days of photography and known for its unique textured surface.