Alice Dunning Lingard (1847-1897) 1869 - 1874

Curator: Here we have an 1869-1874 daguerreotype portrait by Jeremiah Gurney, titled “Alice Dunning Lingard.” Editor: It has a dreamy quality, almost like she is floating in a sepia-toned memory. Curator: Indeed. Daguerreotypes, while fascinating for their clarity, also posed limitations. This romantic style—the soft focus, her contemplative pose—might mask the demanding, lengthy exposures needed. These early photographic portraits are fascinating documents when we consider the process that creates them: posing and sitting still, a dance between the sitter, the photographer, and their respective social classes. Editor: Let's look more at that dreamy tone though. The lighting seems diffused, creating an almost ethereal effect, which softens the form of her face. Even the choice of her light-colored dress against the muted backdrop enhances that sense of lightness, contributing to the sentimental romanticism. Curator: We see this as a highly staged process, with Gurney selling specific fantasies around leisure and the material realities that facilitate these displays. Consider the materiality of the daguerreotype itself – the silvered copper plate, the chemicals used to develop the image – as being intrinsically tied to capitalism and processes of production. Editor: And then look at how he carefully constructed the portrait. Her downward gaze directs our own. It emphasizes her youth, vulnerability... and the artist has carefully orchestrated the diagonal lines of the chaise and the dress, reinforcing compositional balance. Curator: Precisely, and this contributes to the sitter’s projected persona and ideal qualities for the era. Note how photography democratized portraiture, enabling broader access beyond the elite that previously commissioned painting and sculpted busts. Photography studios themselves offered not just portraits but an aspirational performance to be visually reproduced, re-consumed. Editor: It’s striking how this combination of technical execution and composition create an iconic image—one that lingers in the mind even beyond the social context you describe. Curator: Yes, understanding its genesis within labor practices allows one to reconsider aesthetic value entirely! Editor: Seeing the process, indeed changes how we evaluate this image of her entirely!