Portret van een vrouw 1868 - 1900

François Touranchet created this ‘Portret van een vrouw,’ or ‘Portrait of a Woman,’ using a photographic process that was becoming increasingly popular for portraiture. It’s hard to know exactly what the story is here. This woman, rendered in soft sepia tones, is a study in the visual language of 19th-century femininity. Is she someone’s daughter, betrothed, or perhaps recently widowed? We can't know for sure, but her delicate lace head covering, dark jacket, and simple hair style certainly signal a woman who is respectable. As photography democratized portraiture, it offered a chance for those outside the aristocracy to participate in image-making and to author their own representation. While portraiture had historically been the domain of the wealthy, this image speaks to the rise of the middle class and the shifting dynamics of representation and identity in a rapidly changing world. It allows us to consider the intimate lives of people who might otherwise be lost to history.