Monument voor Christoffel Columbus in Barcelona before 1890

Editor: This photogravure print, created by Hauser y Menet before 1890, captures the Columbus Monument in Barcelona. It's such a stark image, almost ghostly. Given your materialist approach, what catches your eye here? Curator: I’m particularly struck by the photograph’s mediation of this monument. We’re not looking at the thing itself, but at a mass-produced image designed for consumption. What choices influenced its making? Editor: What do you mean by choices? Curator: Well, think about it: why a photograph instead of, say, a drawing? Photography in this era implied a kind of objectivity, but even in selecting a viewpoint and a printing method, the artist shaped the viewer's experience, contributing to a particular understanding of the monument, it's scale and intended context. The photogravure process itself--how does that impact the meaning of this image? Editor: That's interesting. It's not just about documenting the monument, it's about creating a particular experience of it. So, this photogravure itself becomes a kind of commodity? Curator: Exactly! The image circulates, reproduces, and disseminates particular narratives. I also find the industrial backdrop interesting in contrast with the neo-classicism of the monument, raising questions about the politics and values encoded in civic spaces. What narratives are prioritised by the commissioner and how do materials reveal them? Editor: I see it now! So, by analyzing the means of production and distribution of this photograph, we gain a deeper understanding of the monument’s intended purpose and how its meaning was constructed and circulated. It’s more than just a picture of a monument. Curator: Precisely. It’s about understanding the image as a material object embedded within a specific historical and social context. Thank you, that's certainly got me thinking differently about seeing!