Gezelschap met paardenkar op een landweg in Puy-de-Dôme

This small photograph, ‘Gezelschap met paardenkar op een landweg in Puy-de-Dôme’ was created by Delizy using the 19th-century technique of chemical photography. The process involved coating a surface with light-sensitive materials; we can imagine the alchemical experimentation involved. The final sepia colour is itself a material effect, emerging from this early photographic chemistry. Looking at the image, one notices the human labour involved in its production. This is made evident in the figures depicted, who are reliant on the work of animals in the pre-industrial landscape. It is of course also manifest in the photographer’s own careful work, in the labour of composing and capturing this image. Consider too, the labour that we no longer see: that which went into the manufacturing of the camera and chemicals. The photograph, then, is more than just a captured moment; it’s an encapsulation of a specific moment in the history of technology and society.