Gezicht op Madrid 1862 - 1876

Curator: This is "Gezicht op Madrid," or "View of Madrid," by Jean Andrieu, made sometime between 1862 and 1876. It's a collotype, a type of print made from a photographic negative. What strikes you about it? Editor: Initially, the textures. The stark contrast between the rugged, almost lunar foreground and the soft focus of the city buildings beyond creates a really interesting tension in materials represented and what is valued here. Curator: Precisely! Andrieu made this view from the Madrid Observatory, highlighting the burgeoning urban landscape but rooting us firmly in the natural environment – or rather, an altered environment shaped by human intervention. Editor: Right, that excavated foreground. I'm thinking about the labour involved in shaping that terrain and how this imagery presents labor indirectly; it's absent. But what does this mean for understanding its social context? Is this more about science than society? Curator: The observatory itself represents a specific social ambition of the time. These panoramic views became incredibly popular, shaping public perceptions of urban space and projecting a vision of progress and modernity. They affirmed Madrid’s role as an important European capital. Editor: So, the act of observation itself is a cultural construction—deciding what to show, and how to frame it? It's not a neutral recording, is it? Thinking about it in the context of industrial expansion, what we don’t see in the photo speaks just as loudly as what is included. Curator: Indeed. Consider who had access to such views and the disposable income to acquire them as stereoscopic cards. The very act of viewing was, and perhaps still is, a social statement. It would make an appealing view. Editor: Interesting, it prompts me to look at the means of image production—the materiality of the print itself, as a sort of document and as object of aspiration that’s available to only some. Curator: Exactly. This photograph captures not just a physical place, but a specific moment in Madrid's socio-political development. Thank you. Editor: Thanks! Thinking about materials certainly shifts how you see its purpose.