Drie mensen in de sneeuw tijdens de beklimming van de Chevedale 1906

Curator: This photograph, "Drie mensen in de sneeuw tijdens de beklimming van de Chevedale," or "Three People in the Snow During the Ascent of Chevedale" was captured by Geldolph Adriaan Kessler around 1906, and preserved as a gelatin silver print at the Rijksmuseum. What catches your eye about this scene? Editor: Immediately, it’s the bleakness. A biting wind comes straight off this image! The muted tones, almost monochromatic, and the seemingly endless snow… It feels quite isolated, almost claustrophobic despite the expansive vista. Curator: Yes, despite being a landscape image, and perhaps even a Romantic one, it verges on being a group portrait, doesn't it? Look how Kessler frames these figures—he's captured not only their physical journey but maybe even their internal struggles. I sense this delicate balance between the subject and the scale. There’s this shared space with this sense of isolation, which is such an important quality for these intrepid mountaineers. I would argue there is still a clear visual language that resonates, today! Editor: It’s interesting you frame it within Romanticism. To me, the climb itself can serve as a strong allegory. These people are engaging not only in the physicality of climbing the mountain, but perhaps metaphorically challenging the restrictive conventions of Edwardian society. We are standing at the turn of a century, in 1906, and soon women and queer individuals and people of color are all going to soon start fighting to demand their right to also stand on the precipice of success. The act of literally scaling Chevedale stands out as such an accessible experience when also looked at in conversation with the politics and upheaval brewing underneath these blankets of snow. Curator: That reading feels apt! Especially because landscape photography was very popular among those interested in themes like self-actualization. It makes me think about those moments in life when we have to navigate tricky interpersonal relationships… perhaps this climb tested these friends as they faced treacherous snow and winds together! It makes one wonder—were they all friends afterward? Editor: Exactly, and who was afforded the grace of assistance on that mountain versus who had to trailblaze by themselves? The silent stories this photograph quietly whispers are absolutely intriguing. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Curator: Always a pleasure to share perspectives. Perhaps it reminds us of those mountains we all face in different walks of life and what is unearthed when we try to cross them.