Miss Ninon, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Curator: Looking at “Miss Ninon,” a piece from 1889 in the Actresses series by William S. Kimball & Company, found here in the Met, is fascinating. Editor: My first thought? Intimate. And faded. The aged paper gives it a vulnerability, like glimpsing a private moment in someone's boudoir. Curator: Exactly! It’s part of a set of cigarette cards—popular collectibles then—and while seemingly simple, these photographs, enhanced with colored pencil and printed on card stock, say so much about the commodification of beauty. Ninon, the actress, becomes a brand, almost. Editor: It's interesting to see how the male gaze gets materialized here: packaged, sold alongside tobacco... but I wonder, what did "Ninon" think of it all? The subject's agency is murky here. The pose feels... rehearsed. Almost too perfect. Curator: Perhaps. And the limited tonal range emphasizes certain features, amplifying her allure. Think about the cultural weight actresses held. They represented fantasy and transgression, at least in the popular imagination. Editor: This prefigures our current obsession with celebrity. Only, today, Ninon might have had her own Instagram account, right? Would she participate, commodify herself on her own terms? A key difference, maybe? Curator: It really shifts our perspective on performance and agency. Thinking about today's hyper-visibility contrasted with her carefully curated public image. I'm curious to explore further what traces have been left behind about "Miss Ninon" and others in these cards! Editor: Yes. These little cards, almost discarded objects, holding silent screams for recognition from people lost to history…it’s haunting. What stories did she never get to tell? That’s the question the piece provokes in me.