Studie van een rund 1856

This photograph, Studie van een rund, or Study of a Cow, was captured by Adrien Tournachon. Though undated, its aesthetic qualities place it within the mid-19th century, a time when photography was emerging from its infancy and beginning to reflect the values of the burgeoning industrial era. Tournachon’s photograph subtly interweaves themes of labor, class, and the representation of non-human animals. The man standing beside the cow, presumably her keeper, is dressed in work clothes and embodies the rural labor force increasingly impacted by industrialization. The cow itself, presented almost as a commodity, speaks to the changing relationship between agriculture and industry during this period. The photograph, with its emphasis on the dignity and physical presence of both man and animal, captures a moment of transition. What does it say about our relationship to labor, nature, and the gaze itself?