Woman

Unidentified

Not on view

While the format of this work recalls that of a postcard, it is not a mass-produced object. Real photo postcards are produced individually from negatives and chemically printed on photographic paper. Portraits such as this one were commissioned by a patron and then printed on a postcard format that sometimes included patterned borders, usually without mention of the photographer. Certainly less expensive than a cabinet card and more modern than a carte-de-visite, this new format’s popularity rose quickly among West African middle-class.

Woman, Unidentified, Postcard format gelatin silver print

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