Portrait of an Unknown Young Man, Wegner & Mottu, c. 1865

carte-de-visite, h 89mm × w 57mm More details

Carte-de-visite portraits were the major source of income for professional photographers. Wegner, a German lithographer, established himself in Amsterdam in 1849. We know with certainty that he already had a photography studio in 1855, and from 1862 he worked together with Mottu. The duo became the city’s most sought-aftersociety photographers. This photograph – presumably of an assistant – was a joke: the young man was also recorded from behind.