[Studio Portrait: Two Women Standing Beside a Table, Hong Kong] 1860s - 1870s

This photograph, taken in Hong Kong by Pun-Lun, shows two women standing beside a table. The image itself is made through the wet collodion process, a popular photographic technique in the 19th century. To create this, a glass plate was coated with chemicals, exposed in the camera while still wet, and then developed. This process resulted in a very sharp, detailed image with a distinctive tonal range, although it was labor intensive. Consider the materiality of the women's garments. Their silk coats, richly patterned and textured, indicate a level of prosperity. Silk production involved skilled labor and a complex trade network. The photograph itself, as a commodity, also speaks to emerging economic structures, and a growing middle class in Hong Kong. By focusing on the materials and processes involved, we see how photography, like other crafts, is embedded in social and economic contexts, challenging any rigid distinction between art and documentation.