Portret van een onbekende matroos before 1901

Frederick Colburn Clarke took this photographic portrait of an unknown sailor. It appears here in a journal from the period, Camera Notes. The image raises interesting questions about the public role of photography and portraiture. Consider the way the sailor is posed. His arms are crossed, and he looks directly at the viewer, exuding confidence and strength. What does it mean to create a portrait of an anonymous sailor? The image celebrates the common man. In nineteenth-century America, a romantic view of the sea was emerging as a place of freedom and adventure, but also of hard work. The portrait then, takes on a political dimension by acknowledging the role of the working class. As historians, we seek to understand the context and the ideas behind an image like this. Journals, like the one where this image was found, provide insight into the cultural values and the institutions that shaped art at the time.