Portret van een zittende vrouw met kind op schoot 1880 - 1905

This albumen print of a seated woman with a child in her lap was made by Herman Salzwedel. It’s a relatively small work, which gives us some clues about the social context in which it was produced. Photographs like this were popular in the late 19th century, a time when photography was becoming more accessible to the middle class. The portrait studio allowed families to participate in a culture of image-making that had previously been reserved for the wealthy. The stiffness of the subjects, the formal attire, and the studio setting speak to the desire for respectability. Consider the role of institutions in shaping our understanding of images like this. Museums, archives, and historical societies collect, preserve, and interpret visual culture, but we can all research further into the history of photography, family portraiture, and the social norms of the time, to better understand its meaning.