Gezicht op de Monte Rosa vanaf de Gornergrat c. 1871

Florentin Charnaux made this photograph of the Monte Rosa from the Gornergrat in Switzerland, most likely in the 1860s or 70s. It’s a fascinating image when we think about the moment in history in which it was produced. The mid-19th century saw the birth of photography as a technology and an art form, of course. But it was also an era in which Alpine tourism became a major cultural phenomenon. Advances in transportation and leisure culture meant that more and more people had the means and the inclination to travel to the Alps. What’s intriguing about this photo is the way it stages that encounter with the sublime. We see a lone figure, probably a tourist, pointing a walking stick towards the imposing mountain. The image seems to invite us to reflect on our place in nature, and the cultural institutions that mediate that experience. To understand this image better, we might look at travel writing from the period, or the archives of hotels and railway companies. The history of art reminds us that even the most apparently straightforward images are shaped by social and economic forces.