Haard in de zaal met wapenuitrustingen in het kasteel van Pierrefonds, Frankrijk before 1875

Editor: This gelatin-silver print, taken before 1875 by Mèdèric Mieusement, depicts a fireplace in the castle of Pierrefonds. It looks so staged, almost like a movie set. The arrangement feels incredibly deliberate. What stands out to you about the materiality and the context of this image? Curator: I see a confluence of forces. The photographic process itself, the labor involved in capturing such a scene in that era – the time, the chemicals, the immobility of it all! And the "subject," this highly curated fireplace display. The print’s creation necessitated a physical darkroom, skilled labor in mixing chemicals, the economic means to both access those materials and operate photographic equipment. This process is itself revealing when it is used to capture an elite’s decorative hearth. Editor: Right, the fireplace becomes a stage within a stage. Curator: Precisely. We are viewing a representation of wealth and power. Each statue would have involved further material resources, specialist stone workers, as well as access to the very resources and patronage that can create this space. Think about the transportation of materials for the reconstruction! And the print circulates that image further, democratizing, perhaps, the gaze upon such opulence but at the same time consolidating the Castle of Pierrefonds’ historical place in the minds of viewers. Editor: So, the print becomes a commodity that reinforces existing power structures. It really highlights the complex interaction between materials, labor, and consumption. Thanks, I am already looking at this piece in a new way. Curator: Indeed. Consider how such images informed and fuelled the bourgeois’ desire and the means to create such artificial historical references. Perhaps there's more to unpack there still.