Untitled [portrait of an unidentified actress] 1869 - 1874

This is a stereo card photograph of an actress, made in New York by Jeremiah Gurney. Notice her necklace of medallions and the dark ribbon around her neck: these were more than mere fashion. They spoke of status, of identity, of belonging to a certain stratum of society. Consider the medallions, reminiscent of ancient Roman portrait coins. These aren't just adornments; they echo a classical desire to immortalize the self, a concept that has been pulsating through Western culture since antiquity. Now, think about the choker. Often, dark ribbons signified mourning. But in other contexts, the ribbon evolved into a symbol of youthful rebellion, a way to subtly challenge societal norms. How curious that these symbols—once so potent—have been adopted, discarded, and re-imagined. The actress, caught in the lens of history, now triggers a deep, subconscious recognition of our own ever-evolving relationship with the past.