Gezicht op de gletsjer Svartisen before 1892

Editor: Here we have a print called *Gezicht op de gletsjer Svartisen*, or *View of the Svartisen Glacier*, made before 1892 and credited to Paul Güssfeldt. It's an albumen print within a book. I’m struck by how fragile the image seems within the pages. What does this image say to you? Curator: This albumen print, nestled within the pages of a book, immediately calls to mind questions of access and ownership of landscapes during the late 19th century. Who was consuming these images and what did it mean to possess a 'view' of such a remote and powerful natural phenomenon? Photography here is implicated in colonial and capitalist practices of claiming territory, both literally and imaginatively. This image also echoes concerns relevant to contemporary times, as glacial landscapes face imminent dangers. Editor: So it's more than just a pretty picture then. Do you see this as commentary on landscape photography and colonialism, even at the time it was produced? Curator: I think the commentary lies less in a deliberate critique by the photographer, and more in how *we* read the image today. We must understand that even ostensibly "objective" representations of nature are always embedded within specific socio-political contexts. What did the act of framing nature as something to be looked at, consumed, and archived signify at the end of the 19th century? How has that shifted, or not, in the present? Editor: That's really helpful. I never considered it that way before – archiving as an assertion of ownership. I’ll be looking at these types of landscapes a lot differently now. Curator: Exactly! Art encourages us to continually challenge our assumptions and to think critically about the power structures inherent in representation.