Portret van een staande man met zijn hand op een tafel 1900 - 1920

This photographic portrait of a man with his hand on a table was made by A. Schlegel. The subject's upright posture, formal dress, and hand resting on a book are visual cues that evoke his status as a member of the educated middle class, probably somewhere in Europe, at the turn of the 20th century. What's most striking is the way the photographic image is set within an elaborate frame of roses. This floral border points to the emergence of photography as a popular medium, as it adopts the visual codes of painted portrait miniatures. The institutions of photography developed rapidly during this period. Photographic studios became commercial enterprises, portraiture became more accessible to the middle class, and the mass media began to use photographs. The floral frame suggests how the relatively new medium of photography was trying to establish its cultural legitimacy. Historians consult an array of period sources, such as photographic journals, advertisements, and studio records, to understand the changing status of photography and its role in shaping social identities.