Opgezette smelleken 1871 - 1876

Curator: Here we have William Notman's "Opgezette smelleken," a gelatin-silver print from between 1871 and 1876. Editor: It has a distinctly mournful quality, doesn't it? The soft focus and muted tones give it the feeling of a faded memory. Curator: Indeed. Note the intricate texture of the birds' feathers, meticulously captured through the photographic process. The composition, while seemingly straightforward, reveals a carefully constructed arrangement of light and shadow. Consider also the lines in the feathers - there's an incredible sense of detail. Editor: It also highlights the Victorian obsession with collecting and cataloging the natural world. These taxidermied birds, frozen in a mock-natural setting, speak to the era's colonial mentality of dominion over nature, doesn’t it? A sense of morbid nostalgia perhaps even… Curator: I can appreciate the impulse to see a comment on dominion; yet, from a formal perspective, consider how the delicate tonal range is expertly rendered in this work and brings out an exquisite composition. Editor: Yes, the tonal range certainly does enhance the sentimental feeling but it's precisely that… it also speaks to the power dynamics at play when representing nature. Curator: It seems these tensions between the artificial and the natural enhance our dialogue as well, providing new ways to see this romantic piece of photography. Editor: Yes, understanding Notman’s image as more than just an arrangement of form, but a document rife with its own colonial assumptions is useful here.