Portret van een vrouw en een meisje 1870 - 1910

Curator: What a poignant image! It looks like a relic from another world. Editor: Indeed. This is "Portret van een vrouw en een meisje," or "Portrait of a Woman and a Girl." We believe it was created sometime between 1870 and 1910 by P. Krabo, using a gelatin silver print. The detail and tones you get with a gelatin silver print is so intriguing, isn't it? Curator: It’s precisely those tones that give it such weight. I find myself thinking about the labour involved in producing photographic prints during this period – the darkrooms, the chemical processes, each print meticulously crafted. Also, consider that in its original social context this type of photographic print would be circulated and available across class. Editor: Absolutely, and that social context is so important. Think of photography's growing influence at the time. The medium offered a new form of visual record for the aspiring middle classes and helped shape concepts of family and personal identity. Consider how such portraits influenced public perceptions of women and girls! Curator: And how these photographs, particularly portraits, became valuable commodities within a burgeoning consumer culture, democratising images, and offering possibilities for ordinary subjects, instead of powerful patrons or wealthy merchants, to control and manage the material circumstances of their lives. Editor: A far cry from today's throwaway digital snaps. Now I’m struck by the contrasting gazes: the mother, serene and composed; the daughter with an intensity beyond her years. Curator: I wonder about the role these photographs played in shaping ideas about lineage and motherhood. Think about how these family photographic albums helped solidify societal notions around womanhood at the time. It speaks volumes. Editor: Exactly! The photograph moves beyond a mere document; it is a powerful tool to convey social messages. The placement in the photo album invites the question to its value. It's fascinating how we can deduce so much about society through materiality and photographic traces. Curator: Absolutely. It prompts us to reflect on the evolution of photographic processes, and the shifting landscape of photographic labour over the last century. Editor: So, perhaps, looking closely allows us not just to appreciate the surface image, but to decode the social fabric from which it was woven.