Poort te Nijmegen before 1889

Editor: So, this albumen print, titled "Poort te Nijmegen," comes from before 1889. It captures a city gate, or rather, an ornate building front. It feels almost… theatrical, in a way. The details are really striking! What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a portrait of power, carefully constructed. Consider how architecture, especially civic architecture like this, has historically served to project authority and stability. What sociopolitical narrative do you think is at play in representing a gate in this way? Is it about celebrating the city's strength, or perhaps about controlling access and movement? Editor: I guess it could be both? I mean, the artistry and details are pretty ostentatious, like a display of wealth or power. It makes me think of accessibility, too – or the lack of it. Curator: Exactly. Consider, also, the medium: photography, still relatively new at this point. Who would have been commissioning and consuming images like this, and what does that tell us about the relationship between art, power, and representation at the time? How does photography alter our relationship with power? Editor: That’s interesting – I hadn’t considered who the intended audience was. Maybe the wealthy, landowners? How they wanted to perceive their role in society. Curator: Precisely! And those are exactly the kinds of questions we should be asking. This image, like so many others, speaks volumes not just about what is depicted, but also about who is doing the depicting and why. I never thought of a cityscape that way, though.