Pompeii_ House with oven and mills, No. 5049 c. 1880 - 1890

This photograph of a house with oven and mills in Pompeii was created by Giacomo Brogi at an unknown date. Brogi lived in a time when photography was being used to document and, in a way, possess images of distant lands and ancient sites. Consider the layers of history that this image holds: Pompeii, a city frozen in time by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and then rediscovered, excavated, and documented in the 19th century. Brogi, through his lens, becomes a part of this historical narrative. The photograph invites us to think about labor and daily life. Ovens and mills weren't just objects, they were central to the livelihoods of individuals. How did gender, class, and slavery shape who toiled in spaces such as this one? What were their stories? We should reflect on how even in ruins, the echoes of human existence resonate. The photograph is a reminder of the passage of time, and the stories embedded within the stones.