Portret van de architect Pierre Dens, ten voeten uit 1861

Editor: This is a full-length portrait from 1861, titled "Portret van de architect Pierre Dens, ten voeten uit" by Joseph Dupont, done as an albumen print. It feels very posed and deliberate, and I'm struck by the clear effort to project a specific image of success. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Immediately, I think about the albumen print process itself. Albumen, derived from egg whites, created a glossy surface, popular because it could capture intricate detail. Consider the labour involved – collecting, preparing, coating the paper! It was far from a straightforward 'click and print'. This highly processed photographic print then became a commodity. Was it a widespread or limited print run? That also impacts our understanding. Editor: So, the production impacts the value of this image, right? Were albumen prints expensive? Curator: Exactly! And Dupont signs this print, signaling not just documentation, but authorship and craft. Pierre Dens' striped pants and hat, the fringed table - it's all a performance, facilitated by this photographic medium, a demonstration of material status through reproducibility. Who consumes these images, and what labour supported its manufacture and distribution? Editor: It makes me think of Instagram today... projecting a certain image, curated for public consumption, and the 'behind-the-scenes' labour required for it! Curator: Precisely! It underscores that photography, even in its early stages, was enmeshed in constructing social identities through its very materiality. This helps contextualize the world, and reminds us how consumption hasn't drastically changed in so many years.