Studioportret van een baby in een witte jurk op een stoel c. 1863 - 1870

Editor: Here we have, from approximately 1863 to 1870, Wegner & Mottu's "Studioportret van een baby in een witte jurk op een stoel," an albumen print currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The image feels incredibly staged, and a little…stiff. I mean, imagine making a baby sit still for that long back then! What’s your take on this image? Curator: It’s easy to see the stiffness through a contemporary lens. But let's consider the role photography played then. Photography, still relatively new, became increasingly popular as a tool for documentation and commemoration amongst a broader public. Editor: Commemoration… so like, early Instagram? Curator: (chuckles) In a way. But with far greater social weight. Think about infant mortality rates during that era. This photo might be one of the few, or perhaps only, visual records of this child. The solemnity is more about acknowledging fragility than pure artistic choice. What about the props – the chair and the white dress, do those speak to you? Editor: I hadn't thought about that before. The chair looks rather ornate, which would indicate that the family was relatively wealthy. And I’m guessing the pristine white dress was a status symbol, or perhaps something they might be buried in, if necessary? Curator: Exactly. Everything within the frame contributes to constructing a very specific public image – innocence, social standing, hope for the future, yet underscored by the precarity of life. It invites us to consider not just the image itself, but also how Victorian society wished to present itself and its aspirations through these emerging visual technologies. Editor: Wow. I definitely see this photograph in a new, and much deeper, way. Curator: As do I, every time I view it.