Niagara watervallen, Verenigde Staten/Canada 1910

Curator: Welcome. We’re looking at a photograph titled “Niagara Watervallen, Verenigde Staten/Canada” taken around 1910, possibly by Landreth, a prominent figure in pictorialism. Editor: Wow. That tumbling water looks like dissolving snow! What I first noticed is that small steamboat at the bottom…makes the whole scene dreamlike. Curator: That’s an interesting take. Considering pictorialism's aim to elevate photography to the level of art through soft focus and manipulated printing processes, we might discuss how that 'dreamlike' quality serves specific social and cultural functions here. What does that aesthetic do to, and for, the image? Editor: Well, the steamboat reminds me of childhood adventures…a nostalgic charm against that raw, roaring power of the falls! The photographer softened all edges for a storybook effect…even if they don't really rhyme. Curator: True. Focusing our critical eye, though, it’s important to acknowledge how such images promoted an idealized—and often colonialist—vision of the landscape. Nature as spectacle. How might Indigenous perspectives of the Falls differ from this commercially-driven representation? Editor: Hmm...didn't think of it that way. My whimsy just got schooled! Curator: These tensions are part of the picture too, you see. We can be moved and question at the same time. Look closer and consider the composition. The framing. These artistic choices have roots in power and perspective. Editor: It really brings the power into perspective, especially after noticing that miniature boat! It’s beautiful and scary, especially for a flat photograph! I keep wondering what it was like to stand at the foot of these Falls and if the light was indeed, the color of fading ice. Thanks for sharing this work with me today. Curator: A useful, grounding paradox, isn't it? I appreciate you thinking along with me on the picture and its meaning.