[The Ascent of Mont Blanc] 1861

Curator: Just look at this photograph, "[The Ascent of Mont Blanc]," taken by Auguste-Rosalie Bisson in 1861. It's a gelatin-silver print currently residing here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Breathtaking! The scale is just overwhelming. You feel instantly the immensity and, frankly, the peril. There's something deeply awe-inspiring, yet unsettling, about this stark, monochrome scene. Curator: Indeed. Beyond the immediate visual impact, consider the historical context. Bisson hauled an entire wet plate darkroom up Mont Blanc! That feat of logistics alone speaks volumes about the ambition of the project and how landscape became a tool for cultural dominance. Editor: It also highlights the symbolic power of the mountain, doesn't it? Mont Blanc, as a representation of nature, transformed into a space of scientific endeavor, recreation, and symbolic power games played out during the Second Empire in France. But beyond that, these men look ant-like and inconsequential against the size and presence of Mont Blanc; I think this highlights the fragility of the human condition in the face of nature's power. Curator: Precisely. The monochrome tones contribute too, don't you think? Rendering the scene almost timeless and echoing the sublime. The use of Romantic ideals becomes clear—with its connotations of the divine presence of nature, but also the sheer might of human drive. Editor: I think so. I am curious about the individuals and their motivation to reach the top, the history that comes to life for viewers to explore, making a direct visual statement that has continued to have importance from 1861. There's a continuing dialogue. Curator: It really shows the power of landscape as a record, both physical and cultural. Even today it continues to represent collective values. Editor: I will never forget this moment seeing the print up close. To look up, toward an unknowable, unattainable, presence in this moment of a long journey to understand man. Curator: An important perspective shift about where history is preserved— not just within structures of society but out there.