Josie Hall, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: This albumen print is from the late 19th century, produced between 1885 and 1891. Allen & Ginter originally included it in their "Actors and Actresses" series to promote Virginia Brights Cigarettes. Editor: Right away, the photograph gives me a sense of theatricality, a carefully constructed persona on display. There’s something so calculated about the pose, even the dreamy upward gaze. Curator: The subject, Josie Hall, wears what appears to be a heavily embellished jacket or tunic and fitted stockings, leaning rather languidly on a prop chair. The composition, dominated by diagonals, really creates a sense of dynamism. The artist is directing our eye. Editor: Absolutely. It's fascinating to think about how celebrity culture and advertising were intertwining even then. These collectible cards provided images of actresses in circulation, acting as a signifier of desire but also perhaps reflecting or challenging late Victorian ideals of femininity. Was Hall choosing this masculine leaning apparel or was she costumed as such by Virginia Brights Cigarettes? Curator: It speaks volumes about the intended consumer, doesn’t it? The use of photography itself adds an interesting layer. While a drawing or painting could present an idealized version, photography claimed to offer a more 'truthful' depiction, though one always manipulated by pose and set dressing, of course. Semiotics allow us to unpack it further: it is worth noting how cigarettes were heavily coded as feminine objects in the 19th century, therefore this image speaks of power play with regards to representation. Editor: It begs us to question how this representation would affect popular opinion of women actors in general. Were they looked up to? Did society look down on women having a strong sense of individualism during this era? We need to analyze it within those paradigms. Curator: I agree; it would be fascinating to research contemporary views on actors and actresses, using those discourses to decode some of the ambiguities presented here. There's a balance, a dialectic, at play that demands interrogation. Editor: Ultimately, images like these highlight how commercial art and popular culture are fertile ground for understanding broader shifts in identity, representation, and power. I find it quite unsettling how much hasn’t changed when regarding corporate sponsorships of people. Curator: Indeed. When dissecting the compositional components, we must equally evaluate societal perspectives toward gender, promotional marketing, and more to unveil the true core meaning of these advertising photographs.