Optocht met praalwagens tijdens Mardi Gras op een plein in Parijs 1896

Editor: This sepia-toned print captures a slice of Parisian life from 1896: “Optocht met praalwagens tijdens Mardi Gras op een plein in Parijs” – Parade with floats during Mardi Gras on a square in Paris. The composition and soft focus give it a hazy, dreamlike feel, and a mood of anticipation and celebration is in the air. The scale of the building looming in the background contrasts with the ephemeral nature of the parade. What's your interpretation of this image, especially its relationship to history painting? Curator: You know, when I look at this, I feel a kinship with the figures blurred in motion; the joy, even captured fleetingly through this lens, echoes. This isn't just history recorded, it's a feeling preserved. I am particularly interested in the medium of photography, often disregarded as a form of art and expression on par with paintings during this timeframe. Editor: Interesting, how do you reconcile the artistic claim of this work when at the same time its primary aim is to capture historical data about a time period or particular event? Curator: I think it all boils down to pictorialism as an art movement; an attempt to try to demonstrate and claim the artistic and creative expression within photography, and move it further away from purely representing facts. Photography gives us so much, doesn’t it? It’s the perfect marriage between reality and dream. And just as painting captures our interpretations through brushstrokes, this historical photograph captures a feeling – the exuberant feeling of festivity – through its unique softness and the movement of life as it happens. Do you think, perhaps, the imperfection *is* the perfection? Editor: Absolutely. Seeing how "reality" can be expressed through the imperfect lens of photography definitely allows me to reconsider the ways in which "historical fact" and artistic expression can go hand in hand.