Portret van een onbekende jongen before 1898

This is a portrait of an unknown boy, made by G.T. Körner, and reproduced within a photography journal. The image itself is a chemical print on paper, likely albumen or gelatin silver, common processes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What I find striking is the way this image reflects the broader social context of photography at the time. Early photography, while innovative, was also labor-intensive, requiring a skilled technician to prepare the chemicals, coat the plates or paper, and carefully control the exposure and development. Each print involved a significant amount of handwork. Reproducing it in a journal like this involved further labor, both in the printing of the journal itself and in the intellectual labor of writing about photography as an art form. By considering the labor and skill involved, we can appreciate the full complexity of this seemingly simple image, challenging any assumptions about photography as purely mechanical or straightforward.