Helling te Oostenrijk 1888

Curator: Gazing at this print from 1888, we find "Helling te Oostenrijk," a landscape photograph captured by Friedrich Simony. Editor: My immediate thought is how monolithic and still it feels, yet also oddly dynamic with those rocky outcroppings reaching for the sky. There’s something very grounding about it, the solidity of the rock versus the slightly blurred background...like a memory half-formed. Curator: Interesting you say that, because mountains often signify the immutable, the eternal. Rocks can also signify stability, permanence. Even a kind of personal strength derived from the earth. This one shows a sort of romantic idea of a mountain slope in Austria. The inclusion of those sparse evergreens piercing the sky adds to the sense of yearning, aspiration. It really encapsulates that 19th century idea of finding spiritual significance in the grandeur of nature. Editor: Oh, totally. And the subdued monochrome really helps feed that, doesn't it? Everything bleeds into itself, like an ancient recollection being filtered through layers and layers of, well, rock, I guess. There's almost no pure shadow and a surprising level of light. The whole image exists in this in-between, doesn't it? It makes me think about that cultural moment - the rise of photography and its challenge to painting - of artists seeking something that painting can’t quite grasp, perhaps. The supposed ‘truth’ of the camera. Curator: Indeed. The photograph presents what seems like empirical truth but which are equally encoded with symbolism and interpretation as in painting or drawing. Think about how Simony chooses his angle, his lighting – even the print medium itself imparts another layer of artistic intent. Editor: That’s a perfect point – it takes a subjective artistic intention, then the truth-seeking lens of the camera, then renders it back in a crafted and aesthetic medium, where meaning becomes so layered that even the ‘reality’ captured fades. Well, Friedrich Simony's photograph is an open space to enter into and become present with. It seems there are many messages from the 19th century to excavate, still! Curator: Absolutely. A fitting place for a short conversation, indeed!