Gondel in het Canal Grande te Venetië met op de achtergrond Palazzo Ducale en de Campanile c. 1865 - 1885

Carlo Ponti made this photograph of a gondola on the Grand Canal in Venice sometime in the mid-19th century, using the wet collodion process, which was the cutting edge of photographic technology at the time. Wet collodion was a complex, demanding process that required coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. This demanded skill and speed. Notice the incredible detail in the architecture and the water. This was only possible because of the light sensitivity of the treated glass plate. More than that, consider the social context. Photography in this era was rapidly democratizing image-making, yet it still required specialized knowledge and equipment. Ponti was among those who turned this new technology into an art form, documenting the iconic city, its architecture and its labor. The gondoliers here were the lifeblood of Venice, navigating the canals and sustaining its tourist economy. Ponti's choice of subject is thus both picturesque and socially observant, capturing a moment in the city's ever-evolving history.