Anna Suits, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Editor: So, here we have Anna Suits, from the Actresses series by Kinney Brothers, around 1890. It looks like a photographic print, part of an advertisement for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. There's something very direct and a little vulnerable about her gaze... what do you see in this image? Curator: Well, seeing this portrait of Anna Suits draws me to considering the performative aspects of identity. Actresses, especially at the turn of the century, were simultaneously idealized and commodified. This image, used to sell cigarettes, becomes a vehicle to explore how women’s images were consumed and how they potentially challenged or perpetuated existing social norms. How complicit was Anna Suits in the transaction of her own image, for instance? Editor: That's interesting! It also looks like it's been touched up with drawing, or it could be the style of photography at the time... The portrait feels really soft, and the actress is idealized. What’s the historical context behind these kinds of actresses' images being used for advertising? Curator: During that period, the Japonisme movement heavily influenced aesthetics; thus, the photographic manipulation you observe, aiming for that specific style, becomes interesting. Beyond the commercial intention of selling cigarettes, these actresses represented an emerging independent woman; that image tapped into ideas of modern life. What impact would displaying those women have in shaping the contemporary identity for a female public in that era? How subversive was that independence? Editor: I hadn't thought about the independence angle! That makes me reconsider what I see. It is like the image holds both conformity and transgression. Thanks! Curator: Exactly! And that’s why unpacking these images can offer such valuable insights.