Porte de Bourgogne te Bordeaux 1862 - 1876

Editor: We’re looking at “Porte de Bourgogne te Bordeaux,” a collotype photograph, placing it somewhere between 1862 and 1876, by Jean Andrieu. It’s a view of a stone archway, and the photographic technique gives it a strangely dreamlike, sepia tone. What leaps out at you about this image? Curator: Well, what doesn't leap out? It's a time capsule, isn't it? You're peeking into Bordeaux over a century ago. And I’m always drawn to the layers revealed through old photos. Do you notice how the collotype softens the harsh lines, almost like memory gently blurring the edges of the past? Editor: Yes, it's beautiful but feels… staged? Like it's trying too hard to be 'real.' The perfectly centered archway, for example. Curator: Staged, maybe. But that's the beauty of it! This arch isn't just stone; it's a symbol, a portal to another time. Photography, even then, was never entirely objective. And how interesting to see photography embracing classic realism as a style! What story does it tell you? The small carts underneath the Arch make me curious... Editor: I guess I'm stuck on that arch as a gate. The composition directs your eye right through it, promising more of the city... yet holding back. Like history itself, always there, partially seen, never completely grasped. Curator: Precisely! Perhaps it’s a rumination on what’s always ‘in front’ versus what remains elusive in our reach to grasp the past… or, maybe it’s simply a stunning architectural photograph, which is equally fine by me. Editor: True! I hadn't considered how the architecture itself is a piece of history too. Thanks, I'll look at it in a new light from now on.