Portret van de schilder Joseph Lies, ten voeten uit 1861

Curator: Today, we’re looking at an albumen silver print entitled "Portret van de schilder Joseph Lies, ten voeten uit", made around 1861. The photographer is Joseph Dupont. Editor: Full length, dramatic pose…he seems ready for anything, yet kind of melancholy, if you know what I mean? Curator: Note the careful composition. Dupont uses the full-length format to emphasize the sitter's attire and bearing, framing Lies centrally against a neutral backdrop. The subtle lighting enhances textures, defining the cut of his jacket and the patterned cravat. It seems staged, deliberately presented for effect. Editor: Absolutely! The light is almost painting him, especially his face. He's got these intense eyes...as if he’s staring at a painting inside his own head. And then there's the slight smirk. Is he happy, is he not? What's he hiding, that little trickster? Curator: Well, photography in this era was, itself, something of a theatrical production. Consider the conventions of Romanticism, of which this portrait shares key attributes. The slightly loosened scarf suggests a hint of disarray beneath the artist's conventionality, evoking freedom, intensity and artistic fervour. It's a constructed authenticity, you see? Editor: Authenticity or not, he definitely comes across as thoughtful and somewhat aloof, in an artsy kind of way. Though his outfit suggests upper middle class… Curator: Quite right, these images, despite their constructed nature, reveal class consciousness, and professional status. Look, also, at the angle and the careful selection of tone and depth which creates the image’s visual and social character. Editor: You know what I think? I think Dupont nailed capturing Lies in a really intimate way even with the period's rigid formal codes. What a moment frozen! Curator: Indeed, it is fascinating how much information and artistry were poured into this gelatin-silver print from the Romantic period. A very fine thing.