Portret van een man met snor en baard 1864 - 1868

The Gebrüder Grundner created this portrait of a man with a mustache and beard using photography. Looking at the image, one might consider the social status of the sitter. In the time this was created, a studio portrait was a luxury. The man's dress and carefully groomed facial hair indicate someone from the middle or upper classes in Europe. The portrait is a social marker, a tool for self-presentation, not entirely different from the profile pictures we use today. We can consider the social role of the Grundner brothers, too. As commercial photographers, they would have played a part in shaping visual culture, deciding on poses and lighting, and even subtly influencing their clients' sense of style. Photography studios arose during the Victorian era; portrait studios democratized the painted portrait for the rising middle class. Understanding this image involves researching the history of photography, the social norms of the time, and the economic conditions that made such portraits possible.