Straatgezicht 1914 - 1919

Editor: This is "Straatgezicht," a photograph, probably silver gelatin print given the date of 1914-1919, showing a streetscape. It feels documentary in style, almost anthropological. What stands out to you when you look at this image? Curator: I see the emphasis on material conditions. The photograph itself, as a reproducible object, democratizes vision. What is the function of the elevated buildings here? What kind of material infrastructure creates this street? Editor: The buildings are intriguing; they almost appear to be raised on stilts, with what looks like storage or activity happening underneath. And there’s laundry hanging between the supports. Curator: Exactly. Note the contrast between the formal geometry of the architecture and the quotidian details of daily life. How is the production of domestic and commercial labor being organized here? What resources are available for them to make shelters like this? The image offers an interesting reflection on the production of the photograph itself. How does the photographic process capture and perhaps shape our understanding of this place? Editor: I didn't think about that, the making of the photograph as a kind of "production" too. Are you saying the act of photography, as a technology, influenced the social landscape itself? Curator: Consider the accessibility. The camera makes this accessible and recordable for further production to share with more. How the very availability of that act shapes the visual and perhaps even the material realities of its subjects is worth questioning. Editor: This is interesting; the focus isn't just on what's in the photo, but the photo *itself* as part of the larger system of material production and its impact. I hadn't thought about photography that way before. Curator: Precisely, reflecting on the labor behind the image, too, opens up new possibilities for the study of photographic streetscapes such as this.