Portret van een man met golvend haar in een jas c. 1860 - 1880

James Page produced this portrait of a man with wavy hair sometime in the mid-19th century. We can observe how the conventions of photography were being shaped at this time. Notice the way the sitter is carefully posed. The composition is very formal, almost neoclassical in its symmetry, reminding us that photography was initially conceived as a democratic successor to portrait painting, making images of the self available to a wider public. But photography also developed its own codes and conventions. The anonymous subject here adopts a very particular pose, arms crossed and head held high, in order to convey the dignity of labor and the possibility of social advancement through self-discipline. To fully understand the cultural and social significance of this photographic portrait, we might consult archives of photographic studios, manuals of photographic technique, and collections of portraiture. Art's meaning is contingent on the social and institutional context in which it is made and viewed.