Portret van Peyto op een paard before 1897

Curator: Here we have an image called "Portret van Peyto op een paard", which translates to "Portrait of Peyto on a Horse," thought to be from before 1897. The artist is Walter Dwight Wilcox, and it seems to be a photograph reproduced as a print. The vast landscape dominates, doesn't it? But there's something deeply human grounding the scene, Peyto on his horse, seemingly at one with the land. How does this piece strike you? Editor: It's beautiful! It definitely gives me a sense of adventure. I wonder who Peyto was. And what sort of relationship did he have with the photographer? What can we infer about how this landscape was explored at this time? Curator: Good questions! I wonder if the rugged beauty initially draws us in, only to reveal this fascinating partnership between the artist and his guide? There’s a collaboration there, a dance between observation and lived experience. Wilcox's photograph isn't merely a landscape or a portrait; it’s a testament to that collaboration, a fleeting moment captured. Editor: That's fascinating. I didn't consider it in that way. So it's like, without Peyto, the landscape remains inaccessible, almost mythical. Wilcox captures both, doesn't he? Curator: Precisely! Now, what story might the setting tell about the cultural context of adventure and discovery during that era? It’s about taming the wilderness and framing it for viewers back home. The "wild west" aesthetic, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely. It makes you think about the narratives we create about our relationship with the environment. I am left pondering who controls access to what places and spaces in nature, both now and then. This conversation has really given me new avenues for interpretation. Curator: Me too, this has prompted me to revisit questions around that period's colonialist attitudes to exploration, I wonder what this relationship looked and felt like for those depicted in photographs. I'll definitely carry that forward.