Straatgezicht te Valencia c. 1850 - 1880

Editor: Here we have "Straatgezicht te Valencia," or "Street View in Valencia," a gelatin silver print likely created between 1850 and 1880. It feels almost like a freeze-frame from a bustling film, doesn't it? I'm struck by how this tangible print, the photographic object itself, captures a moment of such widespread commercial activity in Valencia. What details stand out to you regarding its materiality or creation? Curator: It is less about the artistry of the individual behind the camera, but about the entire chain of production. Consider the work itself: the photographer’s labor, of course, but also the social implications tied to photography as it transitioned from high art to popular commercial use and documentation. These prints would've been churned out en masse. Do you see how the materiality connects directly to the rising middle class and new forms of leisure? Editor: That's fascinating! It's easy to think of photography as capturing reality, but you're saying the reality it represents is intertwined with the methods of production themselves? Like how industrialization impacted artistic expression? Curator: Precisely. Think about the social implications embedded within a gelatin-silver print of that time, compared with an ambrotype for instance. Who had access to which process and its corresponding depiction of the self or society? Consider photography's relationship to labor practices, commercialization, and the rise of visual culture in Spain during that era. How does that impact our reading? Editor: It reframes the image for me, showing that it's not merely a depiction of a street but a cultural object representing the dawn of mass media and its impact on society. Curator: It reveals the relationship between material and social production, right? Seeing art as a material process inextricably linked to its cultural and historical context enriches our viewing experience.