Gezicht op de Italiaanse kustplaats Grimaldi en de Franse kustplaats Menton c. 1886 - 1896

This photograph of Grimaldi and Menton was taken by Henry Pauw van Wieldrecht, and it's an albumen print on cardboard. The choice of albumen printing, a popular 19th-century process involving coating paper with egg white, is significant. It speaks to a moment when photography was both a science and a craft. The process required meticulous preparation and handling, reflecting the labor involved in image-making before the advent of digital technology. The sepia tones, inherent to the albumen process, add a nostalgic filter. Consider how this contrasts with the modern ease of digital photography, where images are instantly captured and shared. Van Wieldrecht's photograph invites us to reflect on the value we place on images today, and on the amount of work that went into earlier forms of image production. It’s a beautiful vista, but also a reminder of photography's own material history.