Gezicht op een picknickveld en sportveld op het Belle Isle Park before 1889

This photograph of Belle Isle Park was made by Shipley & Ladd sometime in the late 19th century, using a process involving light-sensitive chemicals and paper. Look closely, and you’ll notice that it documents not just a landscape, but also a constructed idea of leisure. The image captures a carefully arranged scene. The trees provide shade for the park, inviting visitors to relax and enjoy the open space. The image likely reflects a desire to create idyllic settings for recreation, a characteristic of the emerging urban parks movement. The photograph also has ties to industrialization and urbanization. As cities grew, so did the need for public spaces like Belle Isle Park. Photography itself was becoming increasingly accessible, tied to industrial developments and distribution. Consider the labor involved in creating the park, maintaining the park, and producing this image – all contributing to a particular vision of leisure and social life. It reminds us that even seemingly natural landscapes are shaped by human activity.