Portret van een onbekende baby 1895 - 1909

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, simply titled "Portret van een onbekende baby," which translates to "Portrait of an Unknown Baby," was taken sometime between 1895 and 1909 by Johan Willem Kloppert. Editor: It has this strange, slightly melancholic, air to it, doesn't it? The soft focus and monochrome palette give it an almost dreamlike quality. Curator: The beauty of this particular photograph, like so many portraits from this period, lies in its ability to document a specific moment using relatively new technologies like gelatin-silver printing and how these prints became accessible modes of documentation for wider members of the public, which were once only limited to painted portraiture for the wealthy. Editor: I think it’s important to consider how the power dynamic functions in early portrait photography—even something as seemingly innocent as a baby's photograph is a cultural statement. The stiff pose and the ornate setting speak volumes about societal expectations. Who commissioned it? What class do they belong to? This image begs us to investigate. Curator: Well, gelatin-silver prints were actually an affordable method that also saw use across a large segment of Dutch society for everything ranging from fine art photography to postcards to scientific documentation. And you are correct to touch on its social and class contexts! Think about what it meant for the subjects to sit still, be dressed, to hire a photographer, all of these material conditions. Editor: Exactly! It’s a moment frozen in time, carefully constructed and full of symbolism. I think as contemporary viewers, we can read a certain resistance, perhaps? Babies aren’t known for sitting still... Curator: The print’s very existence gives it this inherent preciousness. Something meant to last. And perhaps somewhere out there someone does know the baby and recognizes him. Editor: I'm left wondering about the narratives we construct around such images, how we imbue them with meaning based on our own perspectives and historical understanding. Curator: Precisely, and understanding the photographic processes helps reveal aspects of that early context of both accessibility, mass production and permanence that continue to make early portrait photography a resonant visual touchstone for today.