Portret van een man met snor 1860 - 1900

This photograph of a moustached man was made by Arno Kersten, likely in the Netherlands, in 1873. Mounted into what was likely a family album, this image speaks to the rise of bourgeois culture and the democratisation of portraiture in the late 19th century. Photography was becoming cheaper, and no longer the sole preserve of the aristocracy and the wealthy elite. Note the subject’s formal suit and tie: his carefully cultivated appearance tells us something about the culture of self-presentation in this era. What was previously the domain of painting was now available to a new middle class with money to spend on photographic likenesses. These were often kept in albums like this one to consolidate family identity and memory. Historical research into the cultural context of photography, family history, and class identity would help us understand the meaning of this image for the Kersten family and its place in the institutions of Dutch society. The meaning of such an image is always contingent on its social and cultural context.