Gezicht op een bos, met op de achtergrond de toren van het Scaliger kasteel in Malcesine before 1903

Editor: This piece is called "Gezicht op een bos, met op de achtergrond de toren van het Scaliger kasteel in Malcesine," and it’s a photograph from before 1903 by Franz Goerke, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. I am immediately drawn to the contrast in textures. What do you see in this piece beyond its landscape subject? Curator: Considering Goerke's landscape within a materialist framework, I'm struck by the confluence of industry and nature, and specifically by the means of production that made it possible. Here we see not only trees, but the industrial manufacture of photography--paper, and photographic emulsion. Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn’t considered the manufacturing side of it. What can that reveal to us? Curator: By viewing photography as a product, rather than merely a depiction, it encourages an exploration of how it served social, scientific and marketing interests in late 19th and early 20th-century Germany, including its role in shaping consumerism, travel, leisure. Do you notice anything about the subject of the photo itself, in relationship to consumer culture? Editor: I suppose the idyllic, natural scene, the view of a faraway castle--it would entice people to visit, right? To see it for themselves. Curator: Precisely. The photograph facilitates and documents a specific kind of mobility, inviting mass tourism through its industrial reproducibility. Considering both the material base and Goerke's intention brings the historical moment of this image to life. Editor: That is very helpful. I hadn't realized how much of the story was embedded in the materiality. Thanks so much for your perspective.