Glasgow Cathedral - The Knave 1867

Editor: We’re looking at Archibald Burns' "Glasgow Cathedral - The Knave" from 1867, currently held at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's a photograph capturing the interior of the cathedral, and what strikes me first is the sheer verticality of it all and this kind of looming majesty. What captures your attention in this image? Curator: You know, it's funny, my first thought wasn’t about height at all. It's that hazy light. Look at the way the photographer coaxes light out of what must have been, even in 1867, a pretty murky space! You know, for all we bang on about technological advancement, there's a certain magic, a dreamy quality, to those early photographic processes. I imagine Burns, shrouded in dark cloths, holding his breath, willing the image to appear! And there’s that sense of captured time as well. This quiet moment in the bustle of Glasgow's history… did Burns set out to capture not just light, but silence, too? Editor: Silence… I like that. The lack of people really emphasizes that, doesn't it? And you're right, the light does soften the rigidity of the architecture. Curator: It absolutely does. And it makes you wonder, doesn’t it, about the Scotland of that time, so entrenched in industry, yet holding onto this profound sense of the medieval. This almost romantic notion, captured so simply by Burns. Almost a paradox. Editor: A paradox made visual, that’s a cool way to put it! I definitely have a better appreciation for how it blends different periods now. Curator: Exactly! It makes you consider our own time. What paradoxes are we leaving behind for future observers, I wonder? Food for thought, isn't it?