Kamelen onder een poort te Peking before 1920

Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the atmosphere—that silvery, almost dreamlike quality. It feels like stepping back in time. Editor: Indeed. We’re looking at "Camels under a gate in Beijing," a gelatin silver print, dating to before 1920, by Donald Mennie. Curator: The textures, though! The aged paper of the print lends this palpable feeling of antiquity. And, honestly, those camels, plodding through the gateway, just amplify the historical weight of the image. There’s a sort of wistful nostalgia in the light itself. It makes me wonder what their stories are. Editor: It is intriguing how the pictorialist style renders the ordinary… extraordinary. Observe how Mennie positions the massive arched gateway—its structure creating a kind of framing device, within the frame. The play of light and shadow guides the eye deeper into the vista, offering a clear sense of depth through contrasting tonalities and careful attention to composition. Curator: Ah, but do you think it’s all just “careful attention”? Doesn’t some of the magic stem from a yearning, maybe a bit of Orientalist fascination with the 'exotic'? It feels… romanticized, a bit, don't you think? That’s part of its allure. Editor: Undeniably. Orientalism is inextricably linked with the aesthetic choices here. Yet, let us acknowledge how the photographic process—gelatin silver—itself lends an evocative materiality. It highlights details from the rough stonework to the subtle variations in light. Curator: All these subtle touches converge to create this almost mystical atmosphere. You can feel the centuries resting in that stone. I guess what moves me is the strange mix of familiar and far-away; of document and dream. Editor: It seems the artistry lies not only in meticulous structure but in awakening a sense of cultural intrigue within a moment suspended in time. Curator: Perhaps in letting us glimpse another time and place, we get a better look at our own imaginations. Editor: Precisely. A photographic journey across both space and the imagination.