Portret van een jonge vrouw met bril 1894 - 1907

Editor: Here we have "Portret van een jonge vrouw met bril," or "Portrait of a Young Woman with Glasses," created sometime between 1894 and 1907, a gelatin silver print by Koene & Büttinghausen, currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. I’m struck by the subject's direct gaze; she appears intelligent and composed, even though the overall tone feels quite formal. What social and cultural context informs your interpretation of this piece? Curator: It's interesting you highlight the subject's gaze and its relationship to the formal composition. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, photography was rapidly evolving from a largely documentary tool to one increasingly conscious of artistic representation. Formal portraits like this were often commissioned by middle-class families, functioning as markers of social status and respectability. Editor: So it’s about conveying respectability and self-assuredness to the public eye? Curator: Exactly! The glasses themselves are fascinating. Consider what it meant to visually represent intelligence and perhaps even challenge the prescribed roles of women at that time. Did portraying women with eyeglasses allow photographers to subtly signify intellectualism at a time of evolving social dynamics? Do you notice anything about the studio’s role in portraying women at that time? Editor: I hadn't thought of the glasses as a kind of statement, that is fascinating. But now that you point it out, the stern look could have meant more agency. And you're right, now I wonder about the photographers themselves! Curator: And indeed their choices – what was amplified and what was diminished – greatly impacted the photograph’s reception then, and its continuing effect today. Hopefully, we can both look at similar artworks from now on with fresh eyes.