[Two Women, One Kneeling and One Standing, Looking into Basket Filled with Vegetables] 1853 - 1856

John Dillwyn Llewelyn captured this image of two women with a basket of vegetables sometime in the mid-19th century, a period marked by significant social stratification and gendered expectations. The photograph offers a glimpse into the everyday lives of women, particularly their roles in domestic and agricultural labor. The kneeling figure suggests a posture of servitude or lower social standing, while the standing woman could be interpreted as a figure of authority or perhaps simply a contrast in roles within the domestic sphere. Llewelyn, as a member of the landed gentry, likely approached this scene with a particular lens, one that may have romanticized or aestheticized the labor of rural women. The image raises questions about the representation of women's work and social class in early photography, inviting us to consider the power dynamics inherent in both the act of image-making and the society it reflects.