Portret van een onbekende Groningse student in maskeradekostuum 1896 - 1900

Jan Frederik Blöte, a photographer from Groningen, made this small gelatin silver print. This particular photographic process, popular at the turn of the 20th century, involved coating paper with a light-sensitive emulsion. This allowed for mass production of images, making photography more accessible. Consider the labor involved: from the factory workers producing photographic materials to the photographer setting up the shot, and the sitter posing, perhaps uncomfortably, for the image. While photography democratized image-making, it also created new forms of labor and consumption. The costume itself speaks to the social rituals of student life in Groningen, where masquerades and performances were part of student culture. Even in what appears to be a simple portrait, we can see the confluence of materials, processes, and social context. Recognizing the significance of photography as a mass medium allows us to appreciate the image's broader cultural meaning, and its place within a larger history of visual representation.