Gezicht op Plaza Mayor in Madrid c. 1888 - 1898

This photograph of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid was produced by the studio of Hauser y Menet. Photography changed our way of seeing the world. What was once the domain of painters and printmakers now became the domain of those who could master chemistry and optics. This particular image has the look of an albumen print. This process, invented in 1847, involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate, making for a glossy surface. The result could be exquisitely detailed, as you can see here. But it was also labor intensive, requiring skilled technicians to prepare the materials and make the prints. And even though photography democratized image-making, it was still an industry, subject to the same economic forces as any other. Consider this whenever you look at an early photograph: its apparent simplicity belies the complexity of its making.