Portret van een onbekende man 1867 - 1879

Curator: This is a portrait from between 1867 and 1879, entitled "Portret van een onbekende man," made using the gelatin silver print technique. The studio was Kannemans & Zoon. Editor: It has a melancholy tone, a result of the soft sepia tones and the sitter’s rather grave expression. It is hard to avoid seeing a very formal pose and composition here. Curator: I agree. Thinking about the era, photography was becoming more accessible, but still carried the weight of earlier painted portraiture. The sitters would have been from specific layers in society, suggesting bourgeois aspirations, if not social arrival. His steady gaze might represent that. Editor: Indeed. Consider the oval frame isolating him, focusing the eye on his facial features. The composition reinforces that this is an attempt to capture more than just likeness; it’s a projection of a specific identity. I find interesting that there is a kind of halo effect too, achieved just through light, right behind his head. Curator: Exactly! Also notice how the photographer frames him within a certain gaze of masculinity. How is he expected to perform here in this patriarchal structure of 19th century? Editor: Certainly. What does stand out as well is that sense of tonal gradations and textures. We see that quality through the subtle highlights on his face to the textured fabric of his suit. It creates a remarkable dimensionality for what is essentially a flat image. Curator: Yes, and in the social context, having a studio portrait like this would have been a way to cement one's place in the world. Family lineage and a narrative of upward mobility—that all reads from this photographic object. He is not knowable to us beyond what is pictured, though the photographer has captured him well for an almost "timeless" piece. Editor: What do you find yourself wondering most about regarding this image and his story? For me it’s what’s revealed and concealed in his pose and gaze, and I love to know more. Curator: I agree, it is those unseen stories, within gender and class expectations of that time that interest me most!