Early Portraiture in Photography

Historical Roots of Portraiture

• Human fascination with self-representation predates photography by millennia.
  • Ancient Egypt: sculpted or painted likeness buried with kings for after-life identification.
  • Ancient Rome: painted/ sculpted portraits attached to mummy wrappings.
  • European “Golden Age”: painted portraits signalled wealth, status, personal interests; hiring an artist itself a prestige act.
  • Renaissance exemplar: da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” (portrait of Lisa del Giocondo) now the world’s most famous painting.

Pre-Photographic Portable Likenesses

• Silhouette portraits (profile shadows) offered an inexpensive, pocket-sized alternative to painted miniatures.
  • Method: sitter lit by candle; shadow projected on screen; artist traces outline.
• Demonstrated long-standing demand for affordable, mobile identity tokens.

Early Photography: Daguerreotype & Calotype

• 1826: Nicéphore Niépce’s first permanent photograph—8\ \text{hours} exposure, extremely blurred.
• 1839: Louis Daguerre’s daguerreotype
  • Sharp, mirror-like image on silver-coated copper plate; single, non-reproducible positive.
• 1841: William Henry Fox Talbot’s calotype (a.k.a. talbotype)
  • Paper negative → multiple paper positives; softer, “lower-resolution” image.
• Market verdict: clients preferred daguerreotype sharpness despite lack of reproducibility; perceived value justified higher cost.

Reading a Photographic Portrait – Guiding Questions

• Pose: body orientation, head angle, balance.
• Facial expression: emotional window—what mood is projected/desired?
• Gaze: toward camera, off-camera, or unseen focus? Suggests relationship or narrative.
• Gesture & props: hands, objects, pets—symbolic clues.
• Costume & jewellery: indicators of status, profession, personality.
• Background & setting: studio backdrops, curtains, sculpture busts—all encoded with meaning.
• Technical considerations
  • Exposure duration: early plates required minutes; necessitated head braces/supports.
  • Lighting: roof-top studios for maximum daylight; indoor windows = longer exposures.
  • Focus, framing, tonal manipulation—choices by photographer or client?
• Purpose: commemoration, status display, grief, advertising, political messaging, etc.

Studio Practice & Client Experience

• Richard Beard (England)
  • Purchased Daguerre patent; opened chain of roof-top studios to capture abundant light.
  • Equipment: head-brace stands, Rococo curtains, busts; clients dressed formally.
• Humorous contemporary painting shows assistant literally holding fatigued sitter’s head—illustrates long exposures.
• Matthew Brady (USA)
  • Opened successful New York studio; photographed politicians, actors; entered elite circles via portrait business.

Daguerreotype vs Calotype – Visual Comparison

• Daguerreotype: razor-sharp, metallic sheen; cherished in velvet-lined folding cases.
• Calotype: softer tones, visible paper fibers; technically reproducible yet less desired by status-minded patrons.
• Example slide showed side-by-side plates highlighting difference in clarity.

Emotional & Cultural Functions

• Motherhood and family groupings: treasured keepsakes carried in pockets.
• Post-mortem portraits: deceased children photographed for mourning families—now seems macabre but then a meaningful memorial.
• Reflection prompt: why does visual record eclipse textual description? Photograph conveys immediacy, embodiment, and shared recognition beyond words.

Technological Leap: Collodion Wet Plate & Albumen Print (1851 onward)

• Inventor: Frederick Scott Archer.
• Collodion wet-plate negative on glass
  • Combines daguerreotype sharpness with calotype reproducibility.
  • Faster exposures, more convenient processing.
• Albumen paper positive
  • Egg-white coating yields glossy, detailed prints; inexpensive mass production.
• Together they democratised portraiture—quality + quantity.

Celebrity & Mass Media Portraits – Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon)

• Parisian photographer, balloonist, impresario.
• Used collodion & albumen to create dramatic, character-revealing images.
• Techniques
  • Strong chiaroscuro lighting; high tonal range.
  • Varied angles, props, non-frontal gazes to suggest intellect or ambition.
• Cultural impact
  • Hosted avant-garde art shows (e.g.
    Manet’s 1874 Impressionist exhibition) in his studio.
  • Reproducible albumen prints circulated in newspapers & posters—boosting sitters’ fame (e.g.
    actress Sarah Bernhardt).
• Nadar’s stated goal: capture “that instant of understanding” revealing sitter’s habits, ideas, character—aspired to sympathetic, intimate likeness.

Artistry & Manipulation – Julia Margaret Cameron

• British photographer who began at 48\ \text{years} old.
• Embraced intentional soft focus & motion blur—rejecting clinical sharpness.
• Borrowed from Pre-Raphaelite painting:
  • Dramatic chiaroscuro, mythic & biblical themes.
  • Costumed sitters as Madonnas, angels, classical figures.
• Example images
  • Sir John Herschel with wild hair, symbolic of visionary intellect.
  • “Madonna and Child” staged religious tableau.
  • Child with cardboard wings—theatrical angel.
• Demonstrates early acceptance of photography as interpretive, not merely documentary; artist manipulates viewer emotion and historical references.

Portrait Photography as Socio-Cultural Dialogue

• Tripartite interaction
  1. Sitter’s self-presentation wishes.
  2. Photographer’s technical/artistic mediation.
  3. Spectator’s reading through frame/case.
• Factors: aesthetics, cultural codes, ideology, class, technology.
• Photographic portrait = interpretation of the world rather than neutral mirror.

Open Questions for Reflection

• To what extent is every portrait a construction—posed, lit, edited—to serve utilitarian goals (status, commerce, memory, propaganda)?
• Does technological advancement (from daguerreotype to collodion to digital) increase truth or simply new modes of manipulation?
• Where lies the boundary between documentation and art? Is “photography a form of art”?

Key Dates & Terms (Chronological)

• 1826 – Niépce’s 8\,\text{h} exposure.
• 1839 – Daguerreotype announced.
• 1841 – Talbot’s Calotype patent.
• 1851 – Archer’s Collodion wet-plate.
• Albumen print (1850s): egg-white coated paper for positives.

Ethical & Practical Implications Discussed

• Physical discomfort: head braces, long sittings.
• Class access: high cost limited early portraits to elites; technology slowly democratised.
• Mourning practices: post-mortem images raise questions of privacy, dignity.
• Media influence: reproducible celebrity portraits shape public opinion and personal careers.
• Ideological framing: every technical choice (lighting, focus) channels viewer perception.