Zes microscoopopnamen van bacteriën, waaronder de miltvuurbacterie before 1890

Curator: What an unsettling beauty! This open book, captured in an old photograph, it's like peering into forgotten knowledge, isn't it? Editor: Absolutely. We're looking at “Zes microscoopopnamen van bacteriën, waaronder de miltvuurbacterie” which translates to “Six Microscopic Photographs of Bacteria, Including the Anthrax Bacterium.” It dates back to before 1890. So it's pre-germ theory in many ways, the public awareness of germ induced illnesses was only budding. Curator: Mmm. Budding, much like those wee beasties under the glass! But what's truly fascinating is how these images, intended as objective scientific documentation, somehow transcend their purpose and morph into abstract art. Editor: It's the composition, I think. Arranged almost like a sampler of unknown things. Each little vignette becomes its own contained world, a drop of the universe writ small. There’s something of the scientific gaze made aesthetic here, where the impulse to contain and record transforms something deadly into something… considered. Curator: The circles are little portholes to… somewhere else? They almost mimic constellations in a strange, cellular sky. I’m reminded that the camera lens revealed unseen universes long before telescopes did. Editor: And consider the context! These images emerge at a time of burgeoning faith in science but also increased anxiety about unseen forces. Diseases were like specters, only just beginning to be understood through this visual culture enabled by innovations in photography and microscopy. How would people see this plate back then, I wonder? Curator: Probably with a mix of dread and hope? Seeing the enemy, maybe feeling like one could fight it. Now it seems kind of peaceful, oddly meditative even. Those tiny monsters now long gone but beautifully imprinted. Editor: In a sense, this image sits at the fascinating intersection of art, science, and public perception, highlighting the crucial role of visual imagery in shaping our understanding of the world, and sometimes, terrifying realities hidden from the naked eye. It serves as a good lesson to think about our understanding of "objective" pictures as constructions rather than "truth." Curator: Precisely. Proof that even the scariest things can have a strange sort of beauty…if you look closely enough. Editor: It offers an insightful moment to pause and reflect on how knowledge is constructed. I never thought I would reflect so deeply from an old image of deadly diseases!