Portret van een zittende man met snor en baard 1850 - 1885

Moriz Ludwig Winter created this photograph of a seated man with a mustache and beard, sometime in the 19th century. The photograph, with its formal composition, invites us to consider the sitter's identity and status within the social hierarchies of the time. His attire suggests a middle-class professional, reflecting the era's emphasis on respectability. But let's consider what stories aren't immediately visible. How does the absence of explicit markers of race or ethnicity play into the dominant narratives of representation? What does it mean to consider this single image within the larger framework of photographic portraiture, where the power dynamics between photographer and subject are always at play? Photographs like this one encourage us to reflect on the selective nature of historical narratives. They also evoke questions about whose stories are told, and whose are left out.