St. Andrews. The Fore Tower of the Castle 1843 - 1847

Curator: Here we have "St. Andrews. The Fore Tower of the Castle," a photograph created between 1843 and 1847 by the pioneering Scottish duo, Hill and Adamson. Editor: There's a stillness to it, a melancholic silence clinging to the old stones. The sepia tones give it such a nostalgic atmosphere, doesn't it? Curator: Absolutely. It captures a sense of time passing, which, of course, is ironic for a brand new technology, a groundbreaking method of recording the world. Photography, from the get go, seemed concerned with recording the past and, in the process, giving its own present the seal of posterity. Hill and Adamson used the calotype process. It gives their images that lovely, soft focus. Editor: Soft focus is right, it’s like memory itself trying to crystallize on paper. That tower, so clearly ruined even then, almost melts back into the landscape, swallowed by time. I can almost hear the wind whistling through those broken crenellations, see shadows deepen. Is that…are there figures near the base? Curator: Good eye! Indeed, and on the bluff further to the right! It is, of course, a posed photograph—exposure times were quite long in those days, so it demanded careful staging. These little figures, however, become essential to creating a real sense of the ruin in relation to human activity. We feel the scene, as opposed to merely seeing it as one would a postcard. Editor: So true. I can just picture them arranging those men, placing them so carefully... I wonder what they felt standing there, like extras on a stage play whose script was written centuries ago? I like the composition, it guides the eye. The landmass on the lower left acts almost as a fulcrum, drawing our gaze upwards to the ruined tower and the expansive sky beyond. Curator: Hill and Adamson truly mastered their craft and contributed significantly to solidifying photography's status as a legitimate artistic medium. But of course it took years for the cultural institutions to realize their work was 'art'. It often seems that artists and artisans who master a medium, or invent a new one, have to also work as evangelists to their patron institutions. Editor: Such dedication... you're right. Well, looking at this now, it seems like such a foregone conclusion that photography would claim its space on the walls of institutions around the globe. It's always moving to think of where we started, and I can see that starting place in every soft, warm line of this print.