Miss Vaughan, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Allen & Ginter created this photographic print, Miss Vaughan, as part of the Actors and Actresses series. The sepia tone and tight composition draw our eye to the sitter's face, framed by soft curls and a feathered hat. The portrait offers a structured arrangement of light and shadow, typical of commercial portraiture of the time. The interplay between the subject and the viewer is mediated through the formal constraints of the medium. This creates not just an image of an actress but a commodity embedded within a burgeoning culture of celebrity and consumption. The actress's gaze and the very existence of this image challenge traditional portraiture. This now serves as a semiotic marker of the shifting cultural landscape of the late 19th century. It marks a moment where image production and dissemination began to transform social relations.