Portret van een vrouw, zittend aan een tafel met boek 1867 - 1904

Wilhelm Ivens made this photographic portrait of a woman, likely in the late 19th century. In this period, photography was becoming increasingly accessible, yet it remained a specialized process, a world apart from our smartphones today. Looking closely, you can see the soft, almost painterly quality of the light, achieved through careful manipulation of lenses and darkroom techniques. The subject’s dress and the ornate furniture give us a glimpse into the material culture of the time. The very act of sitting for a portrait was a deliberate undertaking, a ritual involving both the photographer's technical expertise and the sitter's social standing. The final print, mounted within a decorative album page, speaks to the value placed on representation and memory, a tangible connection to a specific moment and person. It’s a reminder of how much labor went into producing an image, and how different that process was from our own era of instant gratification.