Patiënt lijdend aan de huidziekte 'psoriasis annulata' before 1881

Editor: This photogravure print, "Patient suffering from the skin disease 'psoriasis annulata'," dating from before 1881, presents a clinical portrait. It's incredibly direct, almost stark. The composition, a human torso printed on a textbook spread, is somewhat unsettling. What can you tell us about the context of an image like this? Curator: Images like this existed in a liminal space, between medical documentation, art, and even early forms of advertising for remedies. This was a period deeply invested in categorizing and visualizing the human body, often within a power structure that objectified patients. How does this influence your interpretation of realism in this work? Editor: I guess it makes it a bit problematic. It looks "real," but it's filtered through a scientific gaze, with the patient stripped of agency. Is this work useful if it only reproduces inequity? Curator: That’s a crucial question. Realism doesn’t operate in a vacuum. The political nature of image-making shaped, and continues to shape, which bodies and conditions get visualized and how. Looking at the institutional use of this photograph, for example, as a pedagogical tool, allows us to examine the societal norms of both the medical field, and the art world itself. In fact, how it appears in a book also affects the photograph's status, don't you think? Editor: Yes, putting it into book form, in a book about a disease, seems to further enforce a hierarchy. I initially saw a detailed portrayal but now realize there's an implied judgment embedded in the very act of display. I’ll remember that when approaching “realistic” depictions from now on. Curator: It makes us consider how the presentation is so impactful, just as the presentation of this image can impact others viewing this and other portraits!