Fotoreproductie van Das gute Buch 1870 - 1890

Curator: Here we have a photograph, "Fotoreproductie van Das gute Buch," or "Photographic reproduction of the good book" made sometime between 1870 and 1890. The original resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Immediately, it evokes such a sentimental, almost wistful mood. There’s a Victorian air of quiet contemplation. Is she lost in the words, or the ghost of someone else's thoughts? Curator: That’s interesting. Gelatin silver prints such as these were rapidly gaining popularity around this time as photography became more accessible to the middle classes. Editor: Right, like a democratized portraiture? Before this, you'd have to commission an oil painting! But I love the hazy, almost dreamlike quality. It softens reality. Curator: The framing devices too—that arched, nested border around the oval—pushes us toward a Romantic vision. It’s certainly staged, a carefully constructed presentation of idealized womanhood, very typical of the era. A photograph attempting to be High Art. Editor: And failing? I'm not so sure. It reminds me that everyone is a performer to some degree, but that performative act can also tell a kind of truth. There’s vulnerability too in the delicate chiaroscuro effect across her face. A light just soft enough to evoke mystery. Curator: That soft focus hides as much as it reveals. So much is implied: her class, her piety, her social role… The photographic print becomes a societal record, capturing conventions as much as a person. Editor: I’d counter that she embodies universal emotions that reach beyond that, an introspective nature… Stillness... Don't we all crave a space where we are just allowed to think? Even if the props, the studio, everything about its creation, is constructed and of its time. Curator: It's true; that desire transcends time. A potent reminder to look beyond the historical and recognize the human connections—in photography, as well as history itself. Editor: Absolutely, I suppose that's why some stories bear rereading, as well as retelling. And what a photograph this has been for that.