[Sydney Smirke] 1860s

This photograph of Sydney Smirke was taken by John and Charles Watkins sometime between 1840 and 1875. It’s a salt print, an early photographic process yielding a soft, warm sepia tone from the reaction of silver nitrate and salt. Consider how this image was made. Light-sensitive paper was carefully prepared, exposed to an image, and then chemically developed, a slow and painstaking process, but capable of producing multiple prints from a single negative. This was a step toward mass production, yet each print retains the subtle variations of a handmade object, a far cry from today’s digital photography. The photograph’s material qualities – the paper's texture, the delicate tonal gradations, and its small size – all contribute to its intimate feel. It’s a tangible piece of history, connecting us to the 19th century through a process that blends science, craft, and artistry. By understanding this, we appreciate how photography democratized portraiture, making it accessible to a broader segment of society, and forever changing the landscape of visual culture.