Portret van een onbekende man 1880 - 1887

This is a photographic portrait by Albert Greiner, made in Amsterdam in the second half of the 19th century. The photographic process was revolutionary because it automated image-making. Instead of commissioning a painted portrait – which could be expensive and time-consuming – people could have their likeness captured relatively quickly and cheaply. But don't think that the photographer was merely a technician. The sitter still had to be posed, the light arranged, and the print chemically developed. Consider the tonal range, the sharp focus of the face, the soft blur of the background. Note the subject's carefully arranged beard and the knot of his tie. Photography democratized portraiture, yet it also required new skills, new workshops, and new forms of labor. This portrait reflects those complex social and technological shifts. It invites us to consider the broader implications of a world increasingly shaped by manufactured images.