Portret van een vrouw met witte klederdrachtmuts en halsketting 1856 - 1875

Editor: This gelatin silver print, created sometime between 1856 and 1875 by Johannes Wilhelmus Karsses, is titled "Portret van een vrouw met witte klederdrachtmuts en halsketting," or "Portrait of a woman with white traditional bonnet and necklace." The portrait has a severe, almost austere quality about it. What strikes you about it? Curator: It has that intriguing directness you often find in early portrait photography. She stares right through you, doesn't she? I see someone confronting a new medium. It feels so…unadorned, not like the florid portraits you see painted of the wealthy. It is of a person who wanted their being captured. I’m really drawn to the traditional clothing, too – that stark white bonnet and the details of the necklace, each of which whispers a story. Don’t you think? Editor: Absolutely. The detail is fascinating. And her expression – it’s hard to read, isn't it? Resignation? Stoicism? Curator: Precisely. It's up for grabs. What I find beautiful is the honesty of realism of early photography - the subject is captured as she appears to the world. Do you get a sense of that here, a desire to show, to truly *see*, a life? Editor: I do. It's powerful in its simplicity. It’s more than just a photograph, it's a captured moment that speaks volumes about the sitter, the photographer, and even the era. Thanks, I would never have picked up on this otherwise.