Mediale Grenzgänge

Aushandlungen von Autorschaft in fotografischen Selbstporträts des 19. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

From the 1840s until the late 1890s, it was – except when photographing one’s own reflection – technically impossible to stand in front of the camera and operate it simultaneously. Nevertheless, photographic self-portraits have survived since the public introduction of the daguerreotype in 1839. This article examines how nineteenth- century photographers negotiated authorship under these technical constraints. Focusing on self-portraits by Charles Nègre and Frédéric Boissonnas, it identifies two experimental tendencies: the transfer of conventions from painted self-portraiture into photography, and the deliberate departure from established visual norms. Drawing on concepts of intermediality, the article argues that photographic authorship emerges through specific media constellations involving image, text, technique, and performance.