Portret van een vrouw 1926

Curator: This is "Portret van een vrouw," a gelatin-silver print created in 1926 by Hermann Noack. Editor: It feels strangely timeless. The soft light and subtle tonal range give it a very intimate, almost melancholy feel. Curator: Yes, and look how the light emphasizes the subject's face. The photographic technology of the time also played a crucial role, obviously, influencing the tonality and depth. But focus, too, on how the subtle arrangement guides your eye; from the top of her elaborately styled hair, right down the graceful neckline, a study in formal portraiture. Editor: The material processes behind photographs from this period are truly amazing, particularly concerning accessibility. How different would the image be were it an ambrotype, tintype or daguerrotype process and what sort of labor did the photographer have to negotiate to master each form, if multiple processes are to be taken into consideration. Consider the paper on which the print exists; the emulsion recipe itself... Curator: Those formal choices create a mood, no? And the photographer guides us, using composition to emphasize specific features. Look, too, at the subject's eyes— the way she is directly engaging with the viewer. That creates another dimension of interaction. Editor: You have to think, though, about the subject's attire – a social signifier so indicative of class. A fascinating visual document that, from a materialist perspective, can be interpreted as a manifestation of the cultural norms and socio-economic realities prevalent at that time. A poignant artifact, produced at great cost, that documents how the subject fits neatly into that pre-war machine and benefits from the societal resources that facilitate its development. Curator: It’s interesting to think about all of these elements coming together to give us a sense of a moment. Editor: It is an era condensed, absolutely, within a single frame, rendered in a particular medium by skilled, yet obscured, hands. A lens through which we can start to discern elements about material history and reflect about our place within an ever developing industrialized network.