Gezicht op de Quai de Paludate te Bordeaux 1862 - 1876

Curator: Before us is "Gezicht op de Quai de Paludate te Bordeaux," a photograph captured by Jean Andrieu sometime between 1862 and 1876. It offers a sweeping view of the cityscape, primarily rendered in tones of sepia. Editor: It strikes me as quite stark. The sepia lends an austere mood, but what grabs me are all the structures. So many tightly packed buildings stretching toward that waterway…I wonder about the paper itself, and how the chemicals react to its surface here, what makes up that palette and those tones. Curator: The tones definitely inform its symbolism; evoking the past through a visual representation of architectural uniformity and expansion. You see the implied narratives within those facades, a chronicle of social evolution manifested in the stones themselves, perhaps. Editor: Perhaps. But my eye is on the making. How does one standardize even in a craft of making, but reproduce an identical scene in dual image on photographic paper? The labour and processes implied there. Are we looking at mass culture, the industrializing and distribution of this same image? Curator: Stereoscopic cards like these were hugely popular for creating an illusion of depth and offering glimpses into distant worlds or, indeed, faraway cities. In this instance, the "distant world" of old Bordeaux gains its character. The architecture assumes almost iconic weight, emblematic of urban dynamism. Editor: See, that's what I mean: there is such attention given to how things seem while I cannot stop questioning how things are assembled materially! It feels more meaningful knowing not just what an artwork is supposed to reflect about the world, but what labor and resources created it, and whose labour! Curator: Well, I think Andrieu captured a perspective that's visually and historically informative. I like thinking about how our cities build upon the past to build towards new futures, just like photographs do when they document life and progress and people over time. Editor: Absolutely. But that material context adds a depth that a mere overview cannot access alone. Thanks, Jean Andrieu.