Portret van een onbekende man achter scheepswiel

This small photograph was made by William Notman, probably in the 1860s, using the wet collodion process. This involved coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. The resulting print on paper has a soft, almost dreamy quality, quite different from the sharp resolution we expect today. Notman was a commercial photographer, and this image is likely a studio portrait, using props to suggest the sitter was a ship captain. Consider the labor involved – not just the sitter’s, but Notman’s as well. The wet collodion process was technically demanding, requiring skill and speed. The photograph, like a ship itself, is a product of considerable human effort. The contrast between the portrayed man and the real, unseen labor that went into the making of the photograph invites questions about class, representation, and the stories we tell about work.