Untitled (five photographs, clockwise from upper left, Mrs. McGald; Mrs. C. Fox Webster; Mrs. H. Trelawny; Hon. Mrs. Carnegie; center, Mr. Teedcroft) 1862 - 1888

Curator: This page from an album holds five portraits by Mary Georgiana Caroline Cecil Filmer, each a window into Victorian society's elite. What strikes you first about their arrangement? Editor: The formality, definitely. They're all posed, almost staged. I wonder, what does it mean to create images like this, displaying wealth and status so openly? Curator: Exactly! Consider the power dynamics at play. Photography, newly accessible, becomes a tool for the upper class to define and solidify their identity. How might gender and class intersect in these images? Editor: The women are so elaborately dressed, almost like commodities. Mr. Teedcroft, in the center, seems to command the space. Did Filmer intentionally critique this hierarchy, or reinforce it? Curator: That's the crucial question! By examining Filmer’s position within that society, we can begin to understand her intentions, or perhaps, the limitations placed upon her gaze. What have you learned? Editor: I see how photography can be both a mirror and a maker of social norms, freezing class structures.