Portret van een onbekende vrouw before 1899

This is a reproduction of a photograph by Alexis Mazourine, printed in a book sometime around the turn of the 20th century. This was a period of experimentation with photographic processes, and many of these processes involved a great deal of skill in the darkroom. Notice the sepia tone and the way the image almost bleeds into the paper. This would have been achieved through careful manipulation of the chemicals used to develop the print. Mazourine, like many photographers of his era, saw himself as an artist, akin to a painter or sculptor. The darkroom processes he would have used allowed him to control the final image, emphasizing certain details and muting others. It's important to remember that photography at this time was not the point-and-shoot affair it is today, but rather a craft that demanded a high level of technical expertise and artistic vision. This challenges our typical assumptions about art versus craft.