Portret van Floris Bastiaan Lunsingh Scheurleer als jongen 1910 - 1913

This is a portrait of Floris Bastiaan Lunsingh Scheurleer as a boy, made by Else Weissenborn using photography. Weissenborn was a Dutch photographer, and portraits such as this were common for middle-class families. Photography in the Netherlands, as elsewhere in Europe, was a rapidly developing art form. From the late 19th century onwards, technological advances made it cheaper and easier to produce photographic images. Whilst earlier photography had been the preserve of the upper classes, it now became accessible to a wider public. This portrait is significant as a window into the changing social and cultural norms of the time, in which an increasing number of families sought to preserve their memories through photography. It is a valuable resource for social historians. It allows us to understand the democratization of image-making, and the evolving role of photography in shaping personal and collective identities.