Verbouwing Sluis aan den Leydschen Dam 1886 1886

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, "Verbouwing Sluis aan den Leydschen Dam 1886", created by Henri de Louw, captures a cityscape during a period of significant urban change. It’s now held in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: The first thing that strikes me is the contrast – or lack thereof. The limited tonal range really flattens the composition, emphasizing the geometrical scaffolding juxtaposed with the softness of the reflected light on the water. It's quite stark, and somehow… unfinished. Curator: Indeed. The emphasis on the unfinished sluice itself is quite telling. The realism employed serves to highlight the materiality of construction—the wood, the earth, and the labor involved in reshaping the urban landscape. The workers almost blend into the landscape, dehumanized almost, which gives pause for thought, especially given that they are toiling under the imposing structure of established architecture. Editor: Exactly! The photographic process itself – gelatin-silver – is key. The way this process renders details reveals a very tangible world, focusing on the textures of construction materials and giving weight to what is often an overlooked stage of urban progress: the gritty work itself, as it affects the social and built environment. It suggests a critique of idealized progress. Curator: That's an astute point. Beyond the social critique, the formal structure invites close inspection, as the composition utilizes a delicate balance between light and shadow, capturing the very texture of a specific urban moment. Note the precision with which the light catches on the spire, providing visual counterpoint with the chaotic energy unfolding on the ground. Editor: Thinking about it more, that’s not just *a* city, but *the* city. De Louw highlights not the architecture, but the work happening, foregrounding labor in this snapshot of change. It underscores the idea that progress is neither clean nor immediate, and is made up of human actions, of production, that always reshape our societies. Curator: It really gives the photograph an extra layer of thought to its seemingly basic recording. Editor: Indeed. Next time you walk through the city, consider who did build it? This gelatin print holds space for it, and reveals new ways of relating the medium of photography to the real world and tangible outcomes.