Gezicht op Meråker met bergen en een rivier before 1897

This image of Meråker with mountains and a river was created by Wilhelm Dreesen, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century. It’s a photograph, and the process by which it was made very much determined its appearance. Photography, even at this relatively early stage, had a complicated relationship to both labor and capitalism. The work of capturing the image and developing the print was highly skilled, but also enabled the mass dissemination of images as never before. This one, in particular, seems to have been created as a commercial product, given the printed text on the right side of the paper. Notice too the tonal range, from bright highlights to deep shadows. These would have been carefully controlled by the photographer, both in the exposure and in the darkroom. The very act of taking a photograph is a negotiation with light, time, and available technology. So, while it may seem to present a direct view onto the world, we should remember that every photograph is the result of many decisions.