Portret van een onbekende vrouw c. 1870 - 1891

Editor: This is "Portret van een onbekende vrouw," a photograph, specifically a gelatin-silver print, by Coenraad Cornelis Roskam, dating from around 1870 to 1891. I’m struck by the tangible nature of this image; I mean, I can practically feel the paper's texture just by looking at it. What do you make of the materials and their impact on the work? Curator: Absolutely. The choice of a gelatin-silver print speaks volumes. Mass production of these smaller cartes de visite really took hold around the time of this photograph. Can you imagine how revolutionary it must have been, this explosion in the possibility of accessible images, and specifically portraiture for the emerging middle classes? What labor and processes were involved in making the paper, creating the negative, the eventual positive print? It really shifted social dynamics. Editor: I hadn't considered it that way, actually! It seems like now portraiture, at least photographically, was no longer exclusive to the wealthy elite. The democratizing of art, maybe? Curator: Precisely. And think about what the mass-production of images like this did for the concept of “craft.” Photography threatened to displace a painter, sure, but at the same time, it forced a re-evaluation of what constitutes artistry. It’s the process – the labour, the specific chemistry, the development – not necessarily the final product in and of itself. Editor: So the social context of its making, the available resources, and production methods all give the photograph significant meaning, in and of itself. Curator: Exactly. The materials and the means by which they’re manipulated dictate the kind of encounter that we, as viewers, can even have with this anonymous woman in the photograph. The materials and modes of production made this encounter possible in the first place! Editor: This has completely changed my perception of the photograph. I see it now not just as an image, but also an artifact rooted in a specific moment of social and industrial change. Thanks for your insights.