Portret van een onbekende man in uniform 1869 - 1895

Ernst Ulbrich made this photographic portrait of an unknown man in uniform. It's a small carte-de-visite, a format popular in the mid-19th century. The photograph itself is made through a complex chemical process involving light-sensitive materials. What's interesting is how this technology democratized portraiture. Suddenly, having your likeness captured wasn't just for the wealthy who could afford painted portraits. Photography created a new market, a new way for ordinary people to participate in visual culture. Consider the subject of the portrait: a man in uniform. The uniform itself speaks to mass production, to standardized garments made for a large number of people. The photograph and the uniform, both products of industrialization, come together to create a new kind of representation, one that reflects the changing social landscape of the time. It shows us how new technologies reshape not just art, but also identity itself.