Portret van een onbekende jonge vrouw 1884 - 1906

This photograph of an unknown young woman was taken by Lambertus Martinus Delboy in Den Haag, presumably in the late 19th century. The image speaks to the democratization of portraiture made possible by photography, which allowed people outside the wealthy elite to have their likeness recorded. Consider the institutional setting of the photographic studio, where the sitter would have been posed and directed to conform to certain aesthetic ideals. The woman’s clothing and hairstyle, while seemingly simple, reflect the fashion norms of the time and her social class. The photograph's small size suggests it was intended for personal use, perhaps to be kept as a memento or given to a loved one. To understand this image more fully, we can look at the history of photography as a social practice, examining how studios operated, how sitters were posed, and how these images circulated within Dutch society. Such research helps us to see how even seemingly simple portraits participate in the construction of identity and social meaning.