The Conduit House before 1912

This is a photograph of the Conduit House, taken by Henry W. Taunt, though there's no date on it. It's a small image, about the size of a postcard. The photo captures a humble structure, a stone building with a simple roofline, nestled in a field. I can imagine Taunt, setting up his camera, trying to find the right angle to capture this unassuming building that once supplied Oxford with fresh water. What was he thinking, documenting this functional, rather than beautiful, building? The image is in black and white, and the texture of the stone is visible, hinting at the age and history embedded in the structure. It's a quiet, unassuming image, yet it speaks to a time when practicality and resourcefulness were intertwined with the landscape. There's a directness to the image that reminds me of Atget's photos of Paris, a similar desire to document the everyday. The image also reminds me of Bernd and Hilla Becher's photos of industrial structures, in its austere documentation of a site. This image exists within that same field of artistic practice.