Portret van Albert Edelfelt before 1883

Editor: So, we're looking at this gelatin-silver print, a portrait of Albert Edelfelt, dated before 1883. There's this almost melancholic air about him. And the cigarette! What's not to love? What strikes you when you see this, though? Curator: Melancholy, yes! But for me it whispers stories. Do you get a sense of the photographer wanting to capture something beyond the sitter's physical likeness? Something… elemental? Perhaps they aimed to trap time itself in this monochrome alchemy! Editor: Elemental, like earth, wind, and...Edelfelt? You’re reading quite a lot into this seemingly straightforward portrait! Curator: And why not? Think of it - a late 19th-century portrait... It’s a carefully constructed performance! The sitter's posture, the gaze, even the accoutrements like his well-tailored suit or that cigarette - they're all speaking to a particular ideal, projecting an image. He holds it delicately as if its smoke would fade everything, the memories that create his very present… How about you - is that an early smoking habit? I never could get them in fashion with my generation... Editor: Perhaps! And I now understand, but never saw, how this type of early photography sought to control the "image." Almost, I guess, for public consumption. Curator: Exactly! And don't forget how significant photography was in an era still captivated by painted portraits. Suddenly, you had this seemingly "objective" way of documenting a person's existence... a permanent shadow. I wonder who captured it. So much story can exist between photographer and subject in the captured, quiet moment. Food for thought! Editor: A permanent shadow, indeed. Well, that gives me a lot more to think about when I look at photographs from this period. Thanks for that insight!