Portret van H. Lang 1857 - 1886

This is a photographic portrait of H. Lang, made by Johannes Ganz, a photographer working in Zurich during the 19th century. It’s a modest object, yet deeply tied to the industrializing world of the time. The photographic process, even then, involved a peculiar mix of craft and science. Light-sensitive materials, painstakingly prepared, were exposed to the sitter, creating a latent image. This was then carefully developed using chemical processes and then mounted. Consider how this differs from painted portraiture, which was previously the only means of capturing someone's likeness. The rise of photography democratized image-making, making it accessible to a broader segment of society. It mechanized portraiture, and its social impact was immense. In its time, it was considered to be at the lower end of the art spectrum. But it is now valued as a key part of our visual culture.