Portret van een onbekende vrouw die vermoedelijk communie doet c. 1892 - 1906

This photograph of an unknown woman, possibly on the occasion of her first communion, was taken by Machiel Hendricus Laddé in Amsterdam. The photo itself, though modest in scale, embodies a complex set of industrial processes. First, the silver gelatin, a light-sensitive emulsion, was carefully coated onto a paper base. Then, the sitter had to be arranged in a studio, lit to make her features visible. The camera, with its precision-ground lens, captured her likeness in a fleeting moment. Next, the latent image on the negative was chemically developed, fixed, washed, and dried. The photograph could then be printed and mounted, and would be ready for sale. Consider the skilled labour required for each of these steps, and the networks of production and distribution that would have supported them. It underscores the way that even the most seemingly simple image is enmeshed in broader economic and social realities.