Gletsjerspleten van de Mer-de-Glace before 1868

Stephen Thompson captured "Gletsjerspleten van de Mer-de-Glace" with a camera, an instrument that, during Thompson's time, was becoming more accessible and democratizing art itself. This image transports us to the heart of the Mer de Glace glacier. Thompson’s lens turns ice into an almost abstract landscape. During the 19th century there was growing scientific interest in the natural world. Thompson does not just document the glacier; his work resonates with Romanticism, a movement emphasizing emotion, the sublimity of nature, and the individual experience. Consider the physical act of photographing such a landscape. Thompson would have needed to carry heavy equipment and endure harsh conditions. There is a performative element in landscape photography, with the photographer mediating between the environment and the viewer. Thompson invites us to contemplate our place within the larger world and underscores both the beauty and the fragility of our natural environment.