Overzicht van twee deuren en twee schouwen van het Château Chaumont-sur-Loire c. 1875 - 1900

This photographic print of doors and mantlepieces from Château Chaumont-sur-Loire was made by Médéric Mieusement. Mieusement’s sepia tones evoke a romanticized past, but I’m drawn to the stone itself and how it was worked. Look at the doors – likely oak or another hardwood, and the precision of their joinery. Imagine the skill and labor involved in shaping such hard materials with hand tools, the apprenticeship served to master the techniques. The mantlepieces, carved with classical motifs, must have taken a stonemason weeks, perhaps months, to complete. Think, too, of the social context. Château Chaumont-sur-Loire was owned by wealthy patrons who had the resources to commission such elaborate architectural features. They would have been symbols of status and power. Mieusement, as a photographer, was part of a new kind of industrial craft, documenting these monuments of a bygone era. Considering the materials, making, and context enriches our understanding of the photograph, and the spaces it depicts.