Gladday Virvian, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Curator: This photograph is part of a series produced by Kinney Brothers, a tobacco company, around 1890. The print, titled “Gladday Virvian, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes,” depicts a performer striking a pose. Editor: My first impression is theatrical; there’s a constructed glamour but it is also a little melancholy. It has the look of well-worn stage makeup and props about it, don’t you think? Curator: Precisely. The image embodies the commodification of female performers in the late 19th century. Kinney Brothers used actresses' images to market their cigarettes, directly linking consumption with female allure and entertainment. The performative aspects of the theater mirrored and influenced public perceptions of gender and class, so Kinney Brother took an opportunity of a free marketing avenue that shaped desire, and social hierarchies. Editor: I see it also as reflecting a new sort of material reality emerging at the time. We're really on the cusp of a completely different relationship to consumer goods and photography’s mass reproducibility meant this actress, this commodity, could be endlessly circulated and consumed. The paper and ink, the photographic process… it was all feeding into a booming industry. Curator: It’s a tangible, material echo of shifting societal dynamics. The “Actresses” series and, really, the burgeoning availability and consumption of imagery across other venues allowed women to gain newfound recognition as public figures, but simultaneously constrained them to particular roles. The very production and circulation methods dictated, in many ways, that female identity was a malleable marketing tool for capital gain. Editor: Absolutely. And I notice how the chair the actress leans on, it is also made, fashioned—from raw materials—its own quiet character with a similar story, speaking volumes about the labor of its construction and, of course, what raw materials were available, traded for, accessible. The stage prop and performer acting together like that in this photograph presents a material narrative on several levels. Curator: Yes, this seemingly simple photograph of Gladday Virvian becomes an incredibly complex signifier. Through a contemporary lens, examining gender, celebrity culture, and advertising intersect so interestingly in this piece, presenting so many possibilities. Editor: For me it shows how analyzing the materials of a moment can yield a powerful understanding of it; by connecting it to our understanding of its social world we’re able to fully see its complexities.