Gezicht op Zermatt met de Matterhorn 1897

Curator: Standing before us is an image entitled "Gezicht op Zermatt met de Matterhorn," a gelatin-silver print dating back to 1897, currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. The artistry encapsulates a striking view of Zermatt with the majestic Matterhorn. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Hmm, initially, I'm struck by how calm and steady it feels, despite being of mountains. Like, the air must have been super clear that day. All of those shapes coming to a nice point, a simple story but… grand! I'm picturing it smelling like cold water. Curator: Absolutely. The sharp, clean lines accentuate a sense of awe. Its place in the pictorialist tradition is interesting because we see photography attempting to capture the emotional resonance and aesthetic qualities usually associated with painting, which, we can contextualize, occurred when photography was being increasingly understood as its own medium separate from art. The sublime and its relation to early mountain tourism and representations of the local guides is what I see. Editor: It's like someone bottled that perfect travel postcard moment! And yes! With a tiny town snuggled safely between that big mountain's toes, this idea of romantic adventure… except, was life actually easy there and then? I’m betting the tourist dollar had a major impact, culturally. Curator: Exactly. Consider how images like these were disseminated and consumed by a largely Western, European gaze. We have to investigate the social and political structures already at play, colonialism, capitalism, and ideas of adventure intertwined in travel as social markers. It highlights the intersectional relationship between place, power, and representation, it is never “just a landscape.” Editor: Gosh, I hadn’t gone there in my head. Still, looking at this piece, this might sound weird, it sort of speaks to an early yearning of something, this search for these idyllic vistas… Maybe this photograph even stirred someone's spirit and made them book a trip! Do you see that power here? Curator: Indeed. It acts as both a mirror and a lens, reflecting desires and shaping perceptions, influencing, if you will, a historical staging of adventure for the consumer, and leaving behind the labor for locals in this transaction. It makes us think, no? Editor: Precisely! So glad to wander and wonder here together, that little tug of 'wish I was there!' is definitely clashing a bit differently in my mind now!