Hirten / Pifferari mit Brotzeit 1860 - 1870

Editor: This photograph, "Hirten / Pifferari mit Brotzeit" by Jacob Wothly, probably taken sometime between 1860 and 1870, feels staged, doesn’t it? Like a Victorian tableau vivant. What’s your read on it? Curator: Oh, absolutely, staged to a T! But that's part of its peculiar charm, wouldn't you agree? It's realism, but almost hyper-real, you know? Like a genre painting masquerading as photography. I find myself wondering about these fellows. Editor: What do you mean? Curator: Well, look at their outfits, their pose, even that carefully arranged picnic. There's a certain constructed-ness that almost borders on theatrical. It begs the question, what story is Wothly trying to spin here? Or perhaps more accurately, what story was the *audience* expected to read into this scene? I think, as in most genre-paintings, a message is intended, to make an observer learn from an experience. Editor: That's fascinating, especially since photography was still fairly new at the time. Were people used to photographs being so... deliberately composed? Curator: Good point! I mean think about it. Photography was touted as this objective recorder of reality, right? And yet, here we have Wothly, actively shaping and molding that reality. In a way, it blurs the line between documentation and artifice. Which I find really thought provoking. Editor: It's strange to see “realism” so constructed. I had always thought of Realism being objective... Curator: That is why art is always a fascinating mix of many layers of information and impressions, a real detective's playground. Editor: I’ll keep that in mind going forward.