Gezicht op de ruïne van de abdij van Whitby 1898

Curator: What we have here is an albumen print from 1898 by James Valentine, titled "Gezicht op de ruïne van de abdij van Whitby." What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Well, the print has this almost sepia tone which makes me think about history. And looking at this architectural ruin against the sky evokes this romantic sensibility; a deep sense of loss. What do you see in this piece? Curator: For me, this image raises questions about production. Think about the albumen printing process itself. Eggs! The labor involved in collecting and preparing them on such a scale speaks volumes. Furthermore, the ruin itself points to previous labor. Whose hands built it? Whose destroyed it? How does photography fit into these cycles of creation and destruction? Editor: That’s a great perspective. I was so focused on the aesthetic impression, I completely overlooked the labor that produced both the Abbey and the image! Curator: Exactly! We should also think about distribution and consumption. Photographs like these were often sold as souvenirs. So how does the mass production and consumption of these images influence perceptions of place and history? Is this a democratizing medium? Or one of exploitation? Editor: So it's not just a pretty picture; it's about the entire system that creates and circulates it. That totally shifts how I see it. I will start thinking about all the layers, all the hands involved and the economic system that makes it exist. Curator: Precisely. Focusing on these processes challenges the traditional idea of the artwork as just a singular, aesthetic object and opens a bigger space to explore the world. Editor: I'm definitely going to look at photographs differently from now on, thinking more about their material origins. Thanks for illuminating that.