Dierentuin en portretten 1864 - 1866

This is a page from an album of photographs, put together by Woodbury & Page, though it's hard to say exactly when. The sepia tones and the albumen printing process give these images a distinctive, almost dreamlike quality. You see, albumen printing, popular in the 19th century, involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate. The result is a smooth surface that captures incredible detail, yet also has this inherent softness. These images show people, captured in a way that seems both intimate and distant. The question is, for whom were these images made, and what was the nature of the exchange? Photography, as a technology, was often used to document and categorize people, particularly in colonial contexts. We're left to wonder about the power dynamics at play, and what was lost or gained in this act of representation. By looking closely at the materials and processes involved, we can start to unpack the complex social and cultural meanings embedded in this album page.