View Down the Blackwater from the "Old Dobbins House" c. 1890

Curator: William Henry Jackson's "View Down the Blackwater from the 'Old Dobbins House'"—it's just soaked in this dusky, dreamy light. I feel like I'm peering into a memory. Editor: It's a silver gelatin print, isn't it? That process allowed for incredible detail, look at the sheer density of the forest. I wonder about the labor involved in accessing and documenting this landscape. Curator: Right? It’s almost tactile. And the way he’s layered the hills…it's like he's building a visual poem. I'm curious to know what the relationship was to the "Old Dobbins House". Editor: I am more interested in the means of production, of the chemical manipulation of light and silver. The social and economic forces that enabled Jackson’s expeditions are essential. Curator: But isn't there also something about the sheer mystery of that valley? It pulls you in, makes you want to get lost, or perhaps, become found. Editor: Found, how? This image seems less about discovery and more about the industrialization of landscape photography. I wonder about the ethics of representation. Curator: Still, the image evokes a certain nostalgia for that wild space, for something untouched. I guess for me, that’s its most compelling element. Editor: I see it as a product of specific materials, labor, and historical conditions. It's a document of a landscape transformed by the act of photographic capture.