Schwarzenbergbrug en de Karlskirche, Wenen 1868 - 1875

Editor: This is a photograph titled "Schwarzenbergbrug en de Karlskirche, Wenen" taken sometime between 1868 and 1875, likely an albumen print, attributed to M. Frankenstein & Co. It has such a delicate and serene quality. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: Immediately, the photographic process itself becomes apparent. The albumen print, a technology reliant on readily available materials and specific labor practices, reveals a tension. Here, a commercial studio, "M. Frankenstein & Co.," employs a romantic, almost painterly, style to depict the bridge and the church, yet the means of production speaks to a wider industrializing world. Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't considered the company name in relation to industrialization. How does that relate to the city itself? Curator: Vienna, in this period, was a burgeoning center of manufacturing and consumption. Consider the labor required to quarry and construct the bridge, versus the seemingly effortless capturing of its image through photography. Does this suggest a negotiation between handcraft and mechanization shaping urban life and its representation? And note how photography democratized image-making to some extent; yet portrait studios are branded and are often part of larger chains such as in this image. Editor: I see, the photograph isn't just a picture of Vienna, it’s also a document of the city's changing economy and relationship to art-making! I never thought about landscape photography in this way. Curator: Exactly! Examining art through its materiality offers vital clues about broader social forces at play. Hopefully you can apply it in other scenarios and periods too!