Portret van een man met bril 1870 - 1900

Curator: This striking gelatin-silver print, "Portret van een man met bril," dating from 1870 to 1900, immediately captures a sense of reserved intellect. What strikes you first? Editor: It’s the gaze, definitely. Those pince-nez glasses draw my eye and add an almost professorial air to his countenance. I'm also struck by the severity of the black suit contrasting against his pale skin. Curator: The formal attire is absolutely reflective of the era. This portrait tells a silent story about societal expectations and gender expression during that period. The fact that his arms are crossed, further reinforces that feeling of restraint. Editor: The pince-nez were common, yet now they’ve acquired a distinct symbolism, conjuring images of intellectual rigor. It is interesting how a simple technological artifact, designed to correct a flaw in vision, can now suggest character and even class. How was this tied to societal movements? Curator: Photography at the time, still relatively new, presented a carefully constructed self to the world. Portraiture served as a form of self-representation, but for marginalized individuals, such as working-class people and others not well-represented by photography at this time, the image has more importance, creating and declaring visibility, countering exclusion from power structures. This individual would probably have had the financial means to do that, a signal of something larger? Editor: I agree that it signifies an elite sphere. I see not only privilege, but a declaration of enlightenment. Even his haircut suggests academic discipline. What do you think the artist aimed to convey? Curator: Given the date and medium, there was a very rigid control over the final image as the sitter would have held still for long exposure times and had agency in terms of representing themselves as powerful and as ‘gentlemen’. It also reminds us how identities are constantly being constructed through both individual action and social forces, how appearances carry historical meaning. Editor: Absolutely. This man, captured in a moment long ago, continues to speak volumes about status, intellect, and the very act of self-representation. Curator: Indeed. "Portret van een man met bril" invites us to consider not just who this man was, but how he wanted to be seen, and what that says about the world he inhabited.