Jungfraubahn, Station Eigergletscher, Berner Alpen, Zwitserland c. 1900 - 1920

Curator: Before us is "Jungfraubahn, Station Eigergletscher, Berner Alpen, Zwitserland" a gelatin silver print created by Gebrüder Wehrli, likely between 1900 and 1920. Editor: My immediate thought? Stark. Bleak. Almost monumental in its grayscale depiction of…well, mostly snow. It feels like a visual record, almost clinical, of a monumental feat of engineering embedded within an even more monumental landscape. Curator: Indeed. The Jungfraubahn, the train depicted here, burrowed through the Eiger to reach the Jungfraujoch. The station shown here speaks to humanity’s reach into the sublime power of nature, almost conquering it, altering a sacred and untouchable space with steel, labor, and capital. Editor: Absolutely, it’s about extraction. That small station, those tracks... They’re visual arteries drawing resources, human and natural, from the mountain's core. I'm curious about the conditions for workers in making this railway, the physical labor in this terrain. Curator: That makes me think of the psychological toll this environment would exert on these workers; of its reflection on the broader symbolism of exploration, progress and what we expect to conquer in a world both sacred and indifferent. The stark contrast reminds me of a visual representation of our own internal conflicts when facing the awesome, powerful natural world. Editor: Yet that 'conquest' you speak of comes at a price, of labor, and consumption. I want to look closely at the chemical process behind this gelatin-silver print. The resources needed, and the social dynamics involved in distributing the photograph as a means to glorify the completion of the Jungfraubahn. Curator: I'm drawn, instead, to consider how even a black and white image such as this, is about the intersection of human endeavor with the ancient spirit of the natural world, the intersection of progress with timelessness. The photograph itself, acting as a witness. Editor: It's a reminder, in many ways, of all that goes unseen in this vista: of raw material extracted for construction; of labour taken to shape the environment. And it prompts to question whether such progress justifies what's taken or displaced in this beautiful snowscape. Curator: The discussion leaves me in awe again. The symbolism and emotional gravitas are powerful here. Editor: Agreed, it underscores the materiality behind dreams and the social implications inherent in our progress, whatever we decide that to be.