Untitled (Portrait of a Standing Woman)
1875
Medium
Tintype
Dimensions
8.9 × 6.2 cm (3 9/16 × 2 1/2 in.); Card: 11 × 8.5 cm (4 3/8 × 3 3/8 in.); Plate: 10.2 × 7.7 cm (4 × 3 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250244
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of 19th-century photography with *Untitled (Portrait of a Woman)*, a tintype from 1875 housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Photography and Media. Captured by an unknown maker this small-scale portrait (measuring just 8.9 × 6.2 cm) depicts a poised woman standing confidently, her image preserved on a thin iron plate coated with collodion—a direct positive process that produced unique, one-of-a-kind photographs without the need for negatives. Tintypes, invented in the 1850s, revolutionized portraiture by making professional photography affordable and portable. Pop...