Portret van een vrouw 1884 - 1895

This portrait of a woman was created by C. van der Aa & J. Chrispijn and its dimensions are 82 mm high and 51 mm wide. The subjects in these types of photographs often presented themselves in very particular ways, reflecting societal expectations of beauty, gender, and status. The woman in this portrait is neat, reserved, and self-contained. Note the high-necked garment, which speaks to the period’s conservative fashion norms and expectations around modesty. What do you make of her gaze, the set of her mouth? Is she a woman who comports to social norms, or is there something else in the way she carries herself? Photographs such as this offer a window into the negotiation of identity, shaped by both personal expression and societal norms. They prompt us to reflect on how such norms have changed, and how they endure.