Portret van een man c. 1870 - 1890

This is a portrait of a man made with photography by Wegner & Mottu. The photographic process is more than merely capturing an image; it's a chemical and mechanical dance. Think about the labor involved in creating these images. The photographer meticulously prepares the chemicals, arranges the lighting, and poses the subject, and the sitter in return has to perform for the camera, holding still for a time longer than the attention span allows. Photographs like this one democratized portraiture. It used to be that painted portraits were only for the wealthy, but now, thanks to photography, more people have access to a kind of immortality. This little card format makes images that are repeatable, tradeable, collectable. That’s a big change, and it makes us rethink how we value images today. The materials and methods used here directly reflect broader social and economic shifts, revealing photography's profound impact on art and society.