Via dei Sepolcri te Pompeï 1857 - 1914

Curator: This intriguing photograph is titled "Via dei Sepolcri te Pompei," taken sometime between 1857 and 1914 by Giorgio Sommer. Editor: The desolation really strikes me. The faded tones, the ruinous architecture... It’s a stark scene of antiquity captured on a plate, all crumbling edges and a ghostly stillness. Curator: Absolutely. Sommer’s choice to photograph Pompeii's "Street of Tombs" presents a fascinating look at how death was integrated into the social fabric of this ancient city. Notice how the tombs are located outside the city walls, marking a liminal space. The image hints at ideas concerning social status and memorialization. Editor: I see your point about liminal space and societal display, but look at how Sommer has framed the image. The geometry of the remaining structures—the archways, the clean lines of the tombs themselves—leads the eye deep into the composition, playing with depth and perspective. Light and shadow sculpt the ruins. Curator: This work offers us a view into the layers of history and trauma embedded within Pompeii, particularly what such historical narratives exclude, such as gender, sexuality, race and class struggles. The aftermath of the eruption continues to inform modern memory and anxieties surrounding power and nature, and the way the street is devoid of life feels relevant to consider. Editor: Precisely! The photograph evokes a specific time and place and then transcends it by drawing attention to formal pictorial components. What survives of the real and once populated Pompeii still adheres to principles such as balance and rhythm. Curator: What this image shares then is that it stands as both an artifact of a particular moment in history and a potent meditation on social loss, memory, and resilience in the face of destruction. Editor: I'd also say the sepia tones provide a softness and texture, inviting reflection and contemplation of impermanence and form, a convergence of materiality and time.