Elise Parent (opéra) 1863 1863

Curator: These remarkable albumen prints, dating to 1863, capture Elise Parent, an opera performer. The photographer, André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, has arranged multiple poses within what appears to be a single page of a photo album. Editor: It strikes me immediately how geometric the arrangement is—those six cartes-de-visite slotted so precisely into the cut-out spaces of the page. The sepia tones and slight blurring lend the composition a dreamlike quality, while the layout itself brings an unexpectedly dynamic feel to what are otherwise rather conventional portrait poses. Curator: Precisely. Disdéri patented this method of producing multiple images on a single photographic plate, making portraits like these affordable to a wider public and playing a significant role in democratizing visual representation during the Second Empire. The cartes-de-visite became tokens of social exchange. Editor: The materiality interests me. The surface has this lovely matte texture and a range of subtle tones from dark brown to almost cream which create visual interest, so in my reading there’s a formal quality that separates it from common photography. The eye wanders over the costume detail in each image. Curator: Consider too that Parent’s dramatic costume – quite elaborate and symbolic – suggests the rise of celebrity culture and the opera’s role in shaping Parisian identity. Her performance persona, captured in these accessible prints, could be disseminated and consumed like never before. Editor: I notice her pose in the top left is distinctive as a more relaxed approach than the standing studies. Is the artist emphasizing certain characteristics, certain aspects of this figure by means of arrangement and point of view? Curator: Disdéri's studio was frequented by prominent figures, so there may be social aspiration and the construction of public persona within this carefully crafted album page that provides these clues about the place of this woman and photograph. Editor: So we’re seeing both artifice and documentation coexisting quite neatly, as an object! An artful record rather than simple historical one. Curator: Precisely. Editor: Fascinating.