Portret van Alexandra ('Xie') Kitchin Possibly 1869

Curator: Here we have a photograph attributed to Lewis Carroll, possibly from 1869, titled "Portret van Alexandra ('Xie') Kitchin." The medium is photography, in a style evocative of pictorialism. What's your immediate reaction? Editor: A hush falls over me. The scene feels both incredibly staged and startlingly intimate. The soft sepia tones render the moment as if it’s caught between a dream and a carefully constructed reality. There’s a peculiar stillness to it, isn't there? Curator: Absolutely. It’s important to remember the wet collodion process Carroll would have used; demanding careful preparation, exposure and immediate development, each part affecting the final print. And this being Alexandra Kitchin, a favorite model. Editor: I see a child caught in a strange theatrical tableau. Her limbs are sprawled, her gaze inward...but then I think, who is dictating the conditions for childhood's performance in the 19th century? And to what end? Curator: It's complex, especially given societal mores around children at that time. This could be regarded as art historical inquiry that pushes at certain conventions within portraiture, exploring, for instance, allegorical narratives using classical motifs. Editor: Hmmm, and you think those classical motifs mitigate concerns about the child's implied exposure and the photographer's intent? For me, the lush fabric of that divan and the jumbled clothes on the end speak less of grand narratives, and more of intimate, potentially exploitative settings. The trappings of leisure become deeply unsettling, as do my viewing ethics. Curator: And, I hear you—materiality reveals, and at times obscures. I’d offer that Carroll, steeped in literary and artistic references, creates work deeply rooted in his social context, albeit one requiring ongoing questioning today. Editor: A necessary reminder of how looking across centuries makes our interpretations dynamic and always shifting. Curator: Indeed. Perhaps we conclude on that charged uncertainty—the enduring tension between art and lived experience.