Untitled c. 1860s

This is an untitled portrait made by Jeremiah Gurney, a New York photographer active in the mid-19th century. In this period, photography was still a relatively new technology and involved a complex combination of scientific understanding and skilled craft. Gurney, like other photographers, would have used large format cameras and glass plate negatives, coated with light-sensitive emulsions, to capture images. The resulting prints would then be carefully developed, fixed, and toned, sometimes with the addition of hand-applied color to enhance their realism. Consider the labor involved, from preparing the chemicals to posing the sitter and printing the final image. The portrait would have been a significant investment for the sitter, and thus, symbolizes their status and aspirations. Thinking about photography in this way opens us up to the social and economic implications of what might otherwise be seen as a purely representational medium. It reminds us that all images are made, and that the processes of their making are always deeply meaningful.