[Actress reading book while leaning on chair], from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-8) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1890 - 1895

Curator: It’s interesting how fragile this photograph feels, like a forgotten whisper. We’re looking at “[Actress reading book while leaning on chair],” part of the Actors and Actresses series, produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. sometime between 1890 and 1895 to promote Duke Cigarettes. Editor: There’s something hauntingly beautiful about the sepia tones. The image almost dissolves before my eyes, it’s quite ethereal and soft, almost impressionistic. The actress, young, poised, engrossed in her reading material, the light falling on her like a gentle blessing…it almost feels voyeuristic to gaze at such intimacy frozen in time. Curator: It is incredibly intimate! I'm thinking about how these were essentially advertisements, these little glimpses into a desirable world, carefully constructed for mass consumption. These photographs blurred the lines between celebrity, aspiration, and consumerism, promoting both the product, Duke Cigarettes, and a particular vision of feminine leisure. Editor: So the quiet domesticity, reading by a chair, is also strategic? And in that period, that particular idealized vision of white womanhood was inseparable from the constructs of colonialism. The 'Orientalism' tag makes sense. It invites the audience to view femininity, beauty, intellect—all commodities—as trophies to be acquired, packaged within the wider frame of global power dynamics. Curator: Exactly! You also notice the soft focus and diffused lighting in the photography that evokes painted portraiture. There is, if you allow, an uncanny blend of modernity, commerce, and artistic imitation. It reminds us that the actress, even while portrayed in such an intimate pose, becomes a carefully styled symbol—a face chosen to move product. She isn't selling tobacco, but she’s absolutely selling an aspirational life. Editor: It definitely pushes me to ponder these vintage photographs not only as objects of nostalgic aesthetic value, but more as culturally loaded documents mirroring the political landscape. The picture’s softness shouldn’t deceive anyone: the photo is a reminder that propaganda, like any craft, refines its ways and insinuates itself into our minds by appearing innocent. Curator: Thank you. These old portraits tell very layered stories that go well beyond tobacco products! Editor: Indeed. The most banal of things speak volumes about our societies if we’re only keen enough to lend our ears.