Portret van een onbekende man 1862 - 1899

Editor: This is a fascinating gelatin-silver print from somewhere between 1862 and 1899, "Portret van een onbekende man" by Willem Gerhardus Kuijer. It's at the Rijksmuseum. I'm immediately drawn to the physical texture of the print itself and wonder about the story it holds. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Let’s consider the labour embedded within this portrait. Think about the materials—the gelatin, the silver, the paper—all mined, manufactured, and then meticulously combined through a chemical process by Kuijer. This wasn’t simply pointing a camera; it was a highly skilled craft. What social conditions allowed for this type of production? Editor: That's true. I didn't really think about all the different elements and skill involved in photography back then. Do you mean what class would he have been from? Curator: More than class, consider the expanding access to photographic materials and knowledge in the mid-to-late 19th century. The rise of the middle class created a demand for portraiture, previously a domain of the wealthy. This fueled the growth of photographic studios and the mass production of images, changing the way people saw themselves and their place in society. Editor: So it was kind of democratizing portraiture? Curator: Precisely! But also commercializing it. Kuijer, like many photographers of his time, was participating in a market. He’s selling an image, a likeness, fabricated through specific material means to capture his subject. Can we then discuss ideas around mass culture or consumerism and where that was leading? Editor: That’s so interesting. It's easy to forget how much craft and production went into early photography. This makes me see it less as a simple recording of reality and more as a manufactured commodity. Curator: Exactly. By considering the materials, processes, and the economic context, we can unpack the layers of meaning in what seems like a straightforward portrait.