Kasteel van Barbezieux door de bomen gezien 1898

This is a photograph of the Kasteel van Barbezieux taken by Delizy, and although we don't have a specific date, it's most likely from the late 19th century, judging by the process. It's a gelatin silver print – a chemical process dependent on the light sensitivity of silver salts. This represented a real change in the field of photography, becoming the dominant process for commercial and artistic purposes. The gelatin silver print allowed for a high level of detail, tonal range, and ease of production compared to earlier photographic methods. This image is particularly interesting because, by this point, photography was becoming relatively widespread as a commercial practice. So, to produce an image like this, an artist-photographer would really have to be thinking of ways to mark it as something special and set apart from the mass production of images. This is an artistic choice, not just a record, because it represents a cultural moment of transition.