Drooggevallen vissersschepen, vermoedelijk bij Scheveningen 1866 - 1868

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, taken sometime between 1866 and 1868, is titled “Beached Fishing Boats, Possibly near Scheveningen.” The artist is listed as Veuve J. van Koningsveld. Editor: Hmm, it's dreamy, almost faded into memory, isn’t it? Those boats, lined up like sleepy whales on this vast, sandy stage. I almost feel the quiet of a low tide afternoon, or perhaps early morning… It’s all beige and faded light. Curator: The image invites us to think about maritime history and the lives of fishing communities. This photograph aligns with the 19th-century realism movement, highlighting everyday life and labor. What narratives are submerged within this composition? The labor, the weather, the families involved in these sea vessels and journeys. Editor: Labor for sure. But there’s also something ghostly. You get the sense of something solid, the weight of the boats, yes, but also their… temporality. Like they’re caught between realms, real boats, but photographed, made somehow unreal. Curator: Absolutely, that spectral quality perhaps hints at the precarity of the fishing industry. And also suggests its dependence upon exploitative colonial economics of global supply chain. We should perhaps consider what empire means to the economic models operating in this image of the everyday. Editor: Oof, true. So there’s this beautiful, quiet moment, and layered into that is, you know, the engine of global inequality. This sepia tones hides more than you think at first, doesn’t it? I’ll probably think about this on the beach next time, the tide pools, the work implied in everything you can buy… Curator: Indeed. These seemingly simple photographs have much to teach. Editor: Makes you see things in a completely different light... or shade of sepia.