Zeventiende pagina van een dagboek van een reis door Noorwegen met twee foto's van de Flesefossen en Brattlandsdalen Possibly 1895 - 1899

Curator: Here we have a fascinating object—a page, “Zeventiende pagina van een dagboek van een reis door Noorwegen met twee foto's van de Flesefossen en Brattlandsdalen,” likely from between 1895 and 1899, by Hendrik Herman van den Berg. It combines writing with albumen prints, documenting a journey through Norway. Editor: It feels incredibly intimate. There's something poignant about these small-scale landscape photographs mounted alongside handwritten notes. It speaks of observation and immediacy—like capturing a fleeting moment. I'm drawn to the materiality; the aged paper, the faded sepia tones… you can almost feel the journey itself. Curator: The albumen print was particularly popular during this period for its fine detail and tonal range. Think about what it means to select this photographic method. Norway's landscape gained significant prominence at the intersection of scientific interest and artistic exploration at this time. This could serve to underline a romantic sense of discovery, which echoes the journal format too. Editor: It suggests that these landscapes were not just observed, but collected. And perhaps it even speaks of tourism, albeit in its infancy; it is evidence of capturing the beauty and perhaps exploiting and commodifying it at once. Do you think that combining photography and writing offers greater depth, or rather limits each form’s individual expression? Curator: By juxtaposing the handwritten text with photographic images, it creates an integrated visual narrative, more emotive perhaps, or, in any case, offering diverse ways of viewing than text and photo would achieve in separation. There’s the personal element, the journal entry providing an additional lens. It transforms these landscapes into deeply personal memories. Editor: Absolutely. And to bring our perspective full circle: these methods also bring the landscapes firmly into our own world, by which I mean through material culture they achieve their continuity through time and memory. Hendrik Herman van den Berg, the writer and photographer, becomes, through their selection, now simply an organizer or binder. Curator: This piece acts as a multi-layered document: not just of place, but of a subjective experience encountering it. It holds cultural significance, and captures the human desire to document, record, and ultimately, interpret the world around us. Editor: And it encourages reflection on how we, today, continue to make, trade, and memorialize places in similar yet distinct ways. It's a captivating piece—thank you for shedding light on it!