Portret van een meisje, staand bij een tafel 1867 - 1888

This photographic portrait of a girl was made by Johannes Wilhelmus Franciscus Offenberg, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The materials are straightforward: a glass plate negative, photographic paper, and some kind of mount to set it off. Yet, in this image, we also see the rise of industrial capitalism, specifically, a consumer culture oriented around the family. Photography was initially an expensive pursuit, accessible only to the well-to-do, but as processes were streamlined and standardized, it became more broadly available. The rise of photographic portraiture democratized artistic representation, allowing families to preserve their likenesses. The girl is carefully posed, as are the table and draped backdrop. This kind of staging reflects the formal conventions of the period, and the desire to produce an image of dignity and permanence. The material fact of the photograph embodies aspiration, the hopes of a family captured in a rectangle. So, next time you encounter a photograph, consider the complex social forces at play, rather than seeing it just as a record of the past.