Portret van een onbekend meisje 1890 - 1910

Curator: The gaze of this young girl is rather striking. It’s almost unsettling in its directness. Editor: Indeed. And what we're looking at is a gelatin-silver print entitled "Portret van een onbekend meisje," or "Portrait of an Unknown Girl," attributed to E. Chesnay, dating from around 1890 to 1910. The printing process really draws the eye, the tones adding so much weight to the overall affect. Curator: The sitter is a girl in a simple dress, knee high boots and what appears to be velvet trims to the cuffs and collar; her direct gaze clashes with the performative setting with ornate backdrop and her stiff pose; the construction reveals the studio, rather than trying to disguise it. Editor: It speaks volumes, doesn't it, about the studio portraiture practices of the era? Photography democratized portraiture, moving it away from the wealthy who commissioned painted portraits and opened this avenue up to the expanding middle class, documenting their families through new means. Curator: The visible texture of the print itself enhances that sentiment too; you can almost trace the image-making through touch and material; it bridges the divide between mass production, but through careful labour. What do you read from it? Editor: I'm immediately drawn to her expression. Children in this period were so carefully molded in social performance, the fact this image offers this glimpse of directness – the lack of the performative smiles, is rather powerful. Curator: Right. These were transitional times regarding understandings of children within social spaces. Perhaps it shows a burgeoning sense of individuality starting to disrupt previous traditions? Editor: Maybe it’s my awareness of what happened subsequently in the twentieth century, but viewing it now, it becomes such a haunting relic of history. Curator: Yes. We understand this portrait in a totally new way due to later social understanding. This medium provides a rare glimpse, it truly reveals so much regarding cultural contexts that are so far removed from our current day. Editor: Seeing the hand of the maker evident, within such a context adds many more complex readings to such a seemingly simple object, it is hauntingly revealing.