Untitled [portrait of a gentleman and a young girl] c. 1844 - 1852

Curator: Oh, isn't that lovely? It's so subtle. Like peering into a dream from another era. Editor: I'm immediately struck by how serious they both look. It’s almost unsettling for a photograph with a child in it. Is it a mourning portrait? Curator: Not necessarily! Let's take a closer look. What we have here is an untitled daguerreotype from around 1844-1852 by Jeremiah Gurney, a renowned American photographer. You can find this poignant piece at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Gurney's studio was known for its portraits, right? They really captured the rise of the middle class wanting to document themselves, to freeze a moment of existence during a period of profound societal changes in the United States. Look how carefully they're posed! And she is literally leaning on his shoulder! So much information packed into such a rigid composition! It looks so very Modern. Curator: True, it almost anticipates some of the photographic portraiture we would later see emerging from the Continent in places like Paris or Berlin! But even then, this does carry the mark of grief, doesn't it? Their clothes seem to emphasize solemnity more than fashion. Maybe he recently lost his wife? Editor: Or perhaps that's simply what the burgeoning bourgeoisie were wearing at the time, a dark but simple elegance. Look at the gold border—such incredible opulence! That detail complicates the idea of straight mourning, it makes me feel that even in mourning they needed a sign of the times: gilded prosperity. Also, this could even signify the passage of time in ways beyond grief; she has her hand on his shoulder as a way of saying: soon, I will need to inherit your duties... Curator: What is really amazing is the texture. The soft velvet of his coat. The metallic surface reflects the light in a dreamy sort of way, almost blurring the boundary between them. The child in the picture even has a glint in her eye! It is a bit of warmth—such simple beauty, a whisper across centuries, don’t you agree? Editor: Definitely, that one, seemingly small glint holds multitudes, and tells the larger story, of two historical, economic forces in transition—captured by mercury on silver for eternity.