Gezicht op Schloss Heidelberg before 1891

Editor: So, here we have a photograph, "Gezicht op Schloss Heidelberg," dating from before 1891, attributed to C. Lange. It's a rather muted cityscape. Almost dreamlike. What catches your eye about it? Curator: Oh, it's positively brimming with untold stories! First off, forget "sharp focus;" that atmospheric haze practically *is* the point. This Lange chap wasn’t just documenting stones and mortar, was he? He's handing us a feeling. The way the light filters… it makes me wonder, doesn’t it? – about fairytales and maybe just a hint of gothic romance. Makes you want to wander those ruins with a poet, no? Editor: Absolutely! I love that idea. I also notice the very precise composition, the placement of each structure. It feels deliberate. Curator: See? Deliberate, yes! Almost as if he's saying, “This is History! Pay attention!”. Photography back then, especially with cityscapes, wanted to stake its claim as more than just mimicry; it’s about claiming ownership of the past, freezing it in time. The Heidelberg castle ruins… they whisper stories. And isn’t it funny, how sometimes the most beautiful things are things that are crumbling away? Editor: It’s interesting that you mention this relationship with the past, and how it's romanticised even by means of this choice of atmospheric perspective, something perhaps unusual in traditional "realist" photography. Curator: Exactly. And thinking about this in relationship with Romanticism – a moment where feeling trumped precise recording. Photography lets it have both feet, doesn't it? Truth and beautiful invention… Editor: Well, looking at this photograph again, I definitely see more of the romantic undertones now that you pointed them out! Thanks! Curator: Anytime! It is lovely to chat about a photograph with somebody who sees what can be and isn't stuck with seeing just what it is!