Victorian Discipline in Photography: Power and Performance. Unknown photographer and models. The style suggests late 19th to early 20th century, consistent with early erotic or disciplinary photography. Such images were often produced by anonymous studios or for private clients, not widely indexed in public searches unless part of a specialized archive.

The classroom setting, Victorian-era clothing (long gown with puffed sleeves for the woman, formal attire for the man), and the chalkboard with musical notation and text (e.g., “Richard first line,” “Refrain of the song”) point to a staged scene, likely from the late 19th to early 20th century (circa 1890s–1910s). The man’s submissive posture over the chair aligns with BDSM themes of discipline, while the woman’s stance suggests dominance, a motif seen in early erotic photography.

The interwar period (1910s–1930s) saw a rise in fetish photography, influenced by artists like Man Ray, who explored sadomasochistic themes in the 1920s. While Man Ray’s work leaned toward surrealism, other photographers captured more literal discipline scenes, often in educational or domestic settings, catering to a niche market.
In Britain, the Victorian era’s strict moral codes coexisted with underground erotic photography. Publications like The Pearl (1879–1880) and later detective magazines featured bondage and discipline themes, sometimes in classroom contexts. The image’s style aligns with this tradition, though it lacks the explicit nudity typical of later works