Exterieur van de kathedraal van Milaan, Italië

Giacomo Brogi made this photograph of Milan Cathedral, in Italy, using the 19th-century albumen print process. This involved coating paper with egg white and then silver nitrate, making it sensitive to light. What’s remarkable is the contrast between the relative ease of making a photograph, and the immense labor involved in creating the cathedral itself. Look at the surface of this image, and consider how the stone was quarried, carved, and transported over decades to create that intricate gothic facade. Think of the generations of stonemasons dedicated to this work. The photograph flattens that vast timescale, reducing it to a single moment, a commodity ready for consumption. This raises questions about the role of photography in mediating our understanding of labor, politics, and the massive investment of time in the cathedral’s construction. It urges us to look beyond the image, and towards the immense history of making it represents.