Portret van een man, zittend op een balustrade 1896 - 1920

Editor: This is "Portret van een man, zittend op een balustrade," made sometime between 1896 and 1920 by C.V. Roikjer. It’s a gelatin-silver print. The gentleman in the picture strikes a pose; he's almost theatrically casual. How do you read this photograph? Curator: I’m immediately drawn to the materiality of this object. It's not just the final print, but the whole process. Think about the labor involved in producing a gelatin-silver print at the turn of the century. Who was behind the camera, preparing the chemicals, posing the sitter? Editor: That's a great point! It wasn't just Roikjer, was it? Curator: Precisely! It’s a collaboration. This isn’t simply a record of a man, but a carefully constructed image resulting from technical expertise and social interaction. Consider the costume, it’s a specific style indicating perhaps a trade, an association or a manufactured persona for the sitter. We could deconstruct how its display—the album page and mount—affects the experience, too, connecting it to notions of domesticity and personal consumption. Was the portrait created to project social standing? Editor: So you see the work as more of a social record than an artistic statement, per se? Curator: I think the two aren’t mutually exclusive. By focusing on the means of production – the materials, labor, and the conventions of portraiture – we uncover its role within the wider social fabric. Photography democratized image production but it was still mediated and commodified. This invites consideration as to its broader implications within historical and material structures of that time. What are your thoughts now? Editor: It is fascinating to look at it not just as a portrait but a product of its time, of collaborative labour. It's given me a lot to consider!