Portret van een jongeman, aangeduid als Jan 1860 - 1900

This is a portrait of a young man, made sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century by the Dutch photographer Wilhelm Frederick Antonius Delboy. The image is small, likely part of a family album, and its intimacy implies a domestic setting. Photography in this period served a vital social function. It allowed families to preserve their likenesses across generations, and standardized portrait formats reflected the era’s emerging sense of middle-class respectability. The anonymous ‘Jan’ is presented as an archetype of the modern young man. The subject’s gaze is direct, yet reserved. His clothing, a dark suit, is simple, and his hair neatly styled. These elements work together to project an image of responsibility and upward mobility. To truly understand this photograph, we can dig deeper. By examining the archives of Dutch photographic studios, and the social history of photography, we can begin to understand the role of images like these in shaping social identity in the Netherlands and beyond. The meaning of this image lies as much in its historical context as in its aesthetic qualities.