Carrie Haynes 1869 - 1874

Curator: This gelatin-silver print from around 1869-1874 by Jeremiah Gurney is titled "Carrie Haynes" and is held here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: My first thought is... regal, in a buttoned-up, proper Victorian way. And the symmetry! It’s almost uncanny. Curator: Absolutely, the attire and composition give us that formality of 19th century studio portraiture. But it also highlights the emerging role of photography in defining and disseminating images of women during a period of immense societal shift. Consider, too, that it’s a stereo card. People used viewers to get a 3D effect. So in her own way, Carrie Haynes could visit someone in their home. Editor: That is cool! A Victorian version of sending someone a digital file! It's intriguing to consider how Haynes, a woman in that era, might have actively shaped her presentation for the camera. What kind of agency could she exert, what did the image mean for herself, or to those consuming the stereo image? Curator: Well, the power dynamic within photography is something that never really dissipates, does it? Who is controlling the narrative? And also, thinking about photographic conventions in that era - very specific ways of dressing and posing, etc. – the photograph has a documentative and performative element both present here. Editor: Look at that fur trim, those tiny earrings, the amazing hat... She is in character for her performance! Also, you're absolutely right to call up issues of power because, especially when it comes to portraits of women from this time, their image, name, etc. are so frequently used as if the work had sprung fully formed and Athena-like from the male photographer’s brow. Curator: A male gaze materialized. It’s complex. Editor: It really is. Something to consider and maybe dig into. On my part, the performative aspect just has me imagining all the unseen apparatus behind this simple portrait—the technology, posing, staging... the power behind who is taking the photograph. Thank you, this has given me much to contemplate, and even some places for my own work to develop!