Twee mannen boven de stroomversnelling van de Banyupait rivier c. 1900 - 1935

Editor: This arresting stereo photograph by Neville Keasberry, taken sometime between 1900 and 1935, depicts 'Two Men Above the Rapids of the Banyupait River.' It’s quite stark; a powerful, almost overwhelming display of geological matter. I’m struck by how tactile it feels despite being a photograph. What elements stand out for you in this image? Curator: The materiality, naturally. The photograph itself is an object made through a specific process: the glass plate negative, the printing, the albumen paper, all reflecting a colonial photographic industry geared toward documenting and categorizing. But also, look at what it depicts. The image is dominated by stone, raw and plentiful. These men seem quite small in comparison to the volume of rocks. Editor: Right. I hadn't thought of the physical creation of the photo itself. The rocks definitely seem to dwarf the figures, placing them within this grand geological narrative. Do you see any comment about labour in the image? Curator: I see implied labour. Extracting resources, shaping the land, documenting it, marketing the resulting photos – each step is laden with effort, much of which occurred outside of this single image's frame. How would you characterize this interplay of natural resources, material objects, and manual operations? Editor: Well, the landscape is being documented and perhaps commercialized through the sale of the photographs themselves. I never thought about photographs being like manufactured items before. So much material goes into each step, too. Curator: Exactly! From mining to production, each element has both a value and a process, offering new routes for historical contextualization beyond its aesthetic properties alone. Hopefully this helps to contextualize and analyze what at first appears as simply a landscape.