Conly Studio

In the second half of the 1800s, standard-sized, mass-produced photographs such as the tintype and cabinet card were introduced. Middle-class and working-class consumers could afford to visit a photography studio and sit for a portrait, buying copies by the dozen to share with friends and family; at the same time, they could purchase portraits of celebrities. Collecting photographs and gathering them in albums became a popular hobby, allowing people to create their own “dream” social networks. People today continue to fill albums with pictures of their loved ones.

In this cabinet-card portrait, the sitter, identified as Cora Nash, is bedecked from head to toe with photographic portraits of men, women, and children in small to large sizes. The photographs are strung across her body, shaped into a necklace and medallion, and fit onto a small bag in her hand. Ms. Nash is a walking advertisement for the potential of the photographic medium to capture-and advertise-identity.