Schepen op het water before 1899

Curator: Here we have "Schepen op het water"– which translates to "Ships on the Water" – dating from before 1899 by G. Issmayer. This photomontage combines photography and print work. What strikes you most about it? Editor: The stillness is what gets me, right off the bat. I mean, sure, ships evoke a sense of journey, of movement… but this image, captured like this, feels like suspended time. It's almost melancholy, isn't it? As though history itself is being filtered through memory. Curator: That sense of stillness resonates with the recurring motif of water throughout history. Water as a reflective surface, both literally and metaphorically, echoes the ephemerality of existence. Also, note the artist used photomontage—the layering of images speaks volumes, don't you think? Layering creates depth, time, experience. Editor: Absolutely! Like palimpsests... Think how photography, then quite new, had to negotiate the existing tropes and concepts for image-making. You know, to distinguish itself from just being seen as a mere tool or pastime for upper class hobbyists. This must be where the concept of visual symbolism got traction, too. This is heavy with meanings and hints. What an impact to our current understanding of historical context, technique, composition, or anything to the meaning of images! Curator: A lovely observation! In considering this work, I'm struck by how Issmayer prompts viewers to examine photography and the then-still emerging photomontage's position within visual storytelling itself. How techniques inform one another in meaning! Editor: It makes me want to look closer, not just at other images by the same artist but everything, all the time! Every time. Now I see the art of a quiet journey… thanks!