Portret van een jong kind met twee armbanden, een vinger tegen de wang houdend c. 1860 - 1900

This is a photographic portrait of a young child, likely made using the albumen print process. Photography in the 19th century was far from a simple point-and-shoot affair. The albumen process, in particular, involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate, then exposing it to light through a negative. The resulting print, with its delicate tonal range and surface quality, speaks to the labor and skill involved in early photography. It became incredibly popular and a booming industry, precisely at a time when industrialization created a deep sense of nostalgia for craft. Consider the material transformation at play: from raw chemistry to a captured likeness. The choice of albumen, derived from eggs, adds another layer of meaning, connecting the image to domestic labor and the everyday. Through the unique qualities of the materials, the photograph invites us to consider the social context and the human effort embedded within it. It challenges the divide between art and craft, reminding us that all images are made by someone, from something, for some reason.