Portret van een jonge vrouw 1860 - 1875

This is a photograph of a young woman, made by Moritz Schweisfurth, though we don't know exactly when. The image itself is created through chemical processes, manipulating light and silver salts on a paper base. The final print is small, designed to be held in the hand or kept in an album. Photography in this era was becoming increasingly accessible, yet it remained a specialized skill. The photographer needed knowledge of chemistry, optics, and darkroom techniques. Note the elaborate framing and the subject's careful pose, suggesting the level of work and artistry involved in even a seemingly simple portrait. Photography's rise was intertwined with industrialization and capitalism, providing a new means of documentation and representation for a growing middle class. In a sense, it democratized portraiture, even while maintaining a degree of formality and professional expertise. This small photograph, therefore, speaks volumes about the changing social landscape of the time, where technology and artistry converged to capture and disseminate images of everyday life.