"The Prettiest Doll in the World" 1870

This albumen silver print, "The Prettiest Doll in the World," was created by Lewis Carroll. The image is captured through the lens of a camera, a relatively new technology at the time, but it engages with older traditions of portraiture. The little girl's direct gaze and pose, however artless, places her within a conventional aesthetic framework. The way the image is captured, through the labor-intensive process of wet collodion photography, speaks volumes about Victorian society. Photography itself was becoming increasingly accessible, but it still required a good deal of technical expertise. Carroll, though known for his writing, here engages with both the artistic and technical aspects of photography. His choice to photograph a young girl raises many questions about the construction of beauty and innocence. The title itself suggests a comparison between the girl and a manufactured object, "The Prettiest Doll." It reminds us of the role of images in shaping perceptions, and how photography, even in its early days, was deeply enmeshed in social and cultural values.