Fotoreproductie van een portretreliëf van Pierre-Jean de Béranger 1852 - 1857

This photograph by Adolphe Bilordeaux reproduces a relief portrait of Pierre-Jean de Béranger. The original sculpture would have involved careful modeling, likely in clay or plaster. Then, skilled carving would render the image in sharp relief. The photograph flattens this process, reducing three dimensions to two. But what it loses in depth, it gains in reproducibility. Photography democratized portraiture, making images available to a wider public. Before, only the wealthy could afford a painted portrait or sculpted bust. Photographs like this one also created a vast archive of images, standardizing vision through the photographic lens. Note how the sepia tone gives the image an antique feel, even at the moment it was made. Bilordeaux's photograph represents the collision of older sculptural traditions with the rise of industrial image-making. It reminds us to consider how new technologies change our understanding of art, labor, and access.