Portretten van keizer Wilhelm II, tsaar Nicolaas II en diens naaste familieleden before 1885

This album page by Erche & Co. features portraits of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II, and their families, using photographic prints on paper. The material here – humble paper, mechanically reproduced photographs – speaks volumes about the changing nature of power. Once, only the elite could afford painted portraits, symbols of status and authority. But the advent of photography, and its mass production, democratized image-making. While these portraits still depict royalty, their medium suggests a vulnerability, almost a humanizing effect. Think about the labor involved: from the photographers carefully posing their subjects, to the factory workers churning out prints. What was once an exclusive privilege becomes a commodity, readily available for consumption. It's a sign of a world on the cusp of dramatic change, a world where even emperors and tsars are subject to the gaze of the masses. Considering the material and the processes used to make this work helps us understand the shifting dynamics of power and representation in the early 20th century.