Frankfurt am Main_ Petershaus in Stiftstrasse, garden side c. 1865

Editor: Here we have "Frankfurt am Main, Petershaus in Stiftstrasse, garden side," an albumen print made around 1865 by Carl Friedrich Mylius. There's something so quietly domestic about it, but the strict geometry of the buildings creates a nice contrast with the garden. What do you see in this photograph? Curator: It whispers tales, doesn't it? A time capsule of sorts. For me, the garden becomes the heart of the image, softening the imposing architecture. Imagine the lives lived within those walls, glimpsed through shuttered windows. Do you think the photographer intended to capture the soul of Frankfurt, or just its facade? Editor: That's a good point. It could be a record, but it feels like more than that. I guess I see it as showing how nature persists, even in the face of this very rigid city planning. The mountains in the background too. I wouldn't call it Expressionism, though, given the tag on that; not in the ways I know German Expressionism, anyway. Curator: Expressionism might be a bit of a stretch, sure. Perhaps it hints at the romantic spirit underlying the urban scene. It's like finding a wild rose growing through cobblestones; the resilience, the inherent beauty pushing through… It really pulls me in. You know, every time I look at it, I find a detail I hadn't noticed before. Editor: I totally get that! Maybe I need to let the *soul* of Frankfurt speak to me a bit more, as opposed to focusing on architectural analysis. Curator: Exactly! That's the beautiful, confounding, and ultimately rewarding thing about art, isn't it? It always has another layer to peel back, another conversation to begin.