Portret van een onbekende jonge vrouw 1881 - 1895

Curator: My first thought is quietude, looking at her. This image seems steeped in a gentle stillness. Editor: Indeed. We’re observing a gelatin silver print here, identified as "Portret van een onbekende jonge vrouw," or Portrait of an Unknown Young Woman, created sometime between 1881 and 1895 by Eric Bergquist. It encapsulates late 19th-century portraiture. Curator: Unknown, eh? She has such a definite presence; it feels odd she's lost to history. Her gaze is soft but steady. Makes me wonder what her dreams were. Does her elegance shield a complex character? I want to paint her story just from looking at her! Editor: It's tempting to romanticize. However, consider the socioeconomic context. Photographic portraits, although becoming more accessible, were still largely commissioned by the middle and upper classes. This image might speak to notions of ideal femininity circulating at the time. A woman to be seen and not heard. Curator: Oh, I agree entirely! Still, she hints at something else entirely. Perhaps it’s in the way she doesn't quite meet our eyes, retaining some space for herself. Her hair is styled but natural-looking, giving an informal feeling that balances formality. Editor: A balancing act indeed, one navigated by many women then. The decorative brooch at her throat draws attention, but the otherwise dark attire could be interpreted as understated. Such constraints shaped so many women's existences, informing how they presented themselves to the world and also the inner selves that they protected. The framing might echo those constricting social norms. Curator: I guess the artistry then comes from both sides of the camera. Bergquist’s skill, for one. But she seems so real! So close to stepping off the card and into the room. Editor: And the viewer brings their own set of socio-historical contexts to make sense of it all. That interplay, that's the art of it all. I feel a strange resonance to the women whose image isn’t readily available to a broader audience because that in and of itself speaks volumes of that which needs to be addressed, amplified and acknowledged in the world. Curator: Well put. This unknown young woman leaves us all plenty to consider and re-imagine for ourselves.