Portret van een onbekende jonge vrouw 1888 - 1901

Editor: Here we have an albumen print from between 1888 and 1901 by the brothers Cordes, entitled 'Portrait of an Unknown Young Woman.' I am struck by the overall sepia tone and how the soft focus lends the subject a gentle, almost ethereal quality. What captures your imagination when you look at this portrait? Curator: Ah, yes! It’s a real window into a different time, isn’t it? To me, beyond the surface-level sepia prettiness, is a certain sense of…performance. Imagine sitting for this photo; the pose, the careful placement of that fur muff – everything about this speaks to constructing an ideal image, doesn't it? What do you imagine she was thinking, standing there? Editor: That's interesting – performance! I hadn't really considered the effort behind the pose. She appears rather demure and composed, but there must have been more to her than just this single snapshot reveals. Was photography used this way often at the time, as a means of carefully crafting self-presentation? Curator: Absolutely! Early portrait photography was often about carefully constructing an image for posterity. It’s a very deliberate act. She is participating in crafting her lasting presence; deciding what to hide and what to enhance, and thus participating in myth making about herself. Don’t you think? Editor: I can see that now. It's almost like she’s acting a part, creating her own history for future viewers. I like thinking of it as myth making. Thanks, I’ll never see these types of old photos the same way again! Curator: It changes how *I* see them too when we consider these images as deliberate construction rather than chance documentation. The image begins to hum with untold stories.