Gezicht op Château Durfort-Vivens in Margaux, Frankrijk before 1867

This photograph of Château Durfort-Vivens in Margaux, France, comes from an album, a popular Victorian format. The albumen print, a process refined in the 1850s, involved coating paper with egg white and then light-sensitive silver salts. The negative was then pressed to the paper and exposed to sunlight. The result is this warm sepia tone and fine detail, capturing not just the architecture but also the surrounding landscape. The physical manipulation of chemistry and light to produce an image was labor-intensive and imbued with a sense of craft, even as photography was becoming increasingly industrialized. Consider the social context: these albums were luxury items, consumed by a wealthy elite, often featuring picturesque scenes that reinforced notions of property and status. This image represents a visual record and a form of cultural capital, reflecting the values and aspirations of its original owner. By looking closely at how it was made, and for whom, we gain a fuller understanding of its meaning.