Gezicht op het St. Cross ziekenhuis te Winchester before 1868

Curator: What we have here is an albumen print titled "Gezicht op het St. Cross ziekenhuis te Winchester," dating from before 1868 by William Savage. Editor: There’s a serenity in this composition, a sense of the enduring weight of history. It evokes feelings of solemnity, as if it has witnessed so much over the ages, a silent monument to a different world. Curator: Albumen prints themselves are fascinating artifacts of 19th-century photographic processes. The print involves coating paper with albumen—egg white—rendering a smooth surface for capturing immense details. Its creation depended on availability, and was truly time-intensive work; how was that labour organized and compensated? Editor: Thinking of its context as a hospital setting makes me consider who was inside those walls and what lives where shaped, regulated, or surveilled. This institution would inevitably be tangled with narratives of health, poverty, and social support - a stark contrast to what some may deem the "peaceful" view. Curator: Precisely. The physical creation is crucial; you see the sharp delineation thanks to the materials and technique, how that specific practice produced this kind of picturesque visual record of the place, which would circulate and inform perceptions and understandings of this architecture. Editor: And it begs the question, who had the power and access to disseminate that image? Looking at this now, I reflect on the social disparities evident during that era that allowed institutions like St. Cross Hospital to serve specific portions of society, while completely failing or harming others. How would people who were failed by or barred access from the institution experience this view or consider this photograph now? Curator: Considering this further, we have this beautiful aesthetic object, but it’s undeniably wrapped up with the industry that sprang up around photography at the time, from the chemicals needed, the studios dedicated to print production, down to the very materiality of the albumen, which brings me back to our initial wonder at how so much material and labour came into play to make such photographs! Editor: That perspective helps underscore how art like this isn't simply hanging in a gallery divorced from human experience. Art objects are woven into layers of social and historical meaning that directly engage conversations about equity and access. It reminds us to constantly question the image and deconstruct who is centered, who benefits, and who has been obscured or excluded by the frame.