Gezicht op de Cadettenschool in Lichterfelde te Berlijn 1881

This photograph of the Cadet School in Lichterfelde, Berlin, was made by Sophus Williams, likely in the late 19th century. Its materiality is straightforward: a photographic print, carefully mounted on card stock. Yet the effect is more complex. As a mode of production, photography in this period was becoming increasingly democratized. While portraits had previously been the domain of painting, now virtually anyone could sit for their likeness. But here, Williams has turned his camera on a building, not a person. The very architecture speaks to power, discipline, and regimentation. Every window is identical; every tree is planted in a row. The photograph itself echoes these qualities, produced through a mechanical process governed by strict optical and chemical laws. It is as if the medium itself is in sympathy with the social order embodied by the Cadet School. So, in this case, the relationship between the artwork and wider structures of authority is clear. Photography, then and now, is never truly neutral; it always takes a position.