Zevengebergte met de Drachenfels gezien vanaf Rolandseck before 1865

Curator: This is "Zevengebergte met de Drachenfels gezien vanaf Rolandseck," a gelatin silver print from before 1865, by Francis Frith, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: What strikes me immediately is the texture, almost like an etching, even though it’s a photograph. It feels like a crafted object, labor-intensive despite the supposed ease of photography. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It’s fascinating to consider Frith's choice of photography within the context of landscape art production in the 19th century. This was an era of industrialization and mass production. The supposed objectivity of photography allowed for a seemingly direct capturing of the landscape, but Frith was involved in photographic printing on a large scale, using industrial processes. He essentially produced landscape views for mass consumption. Editor: So, it's not just a pristine artistic vision but a commodity? How does the mass production aspect impact its interpretation? Curator: Precisely. The romantic style suggests a certain sublime experience of nature. But think about the social context. Who was consuming these images? The rising middle class, eager to connect with nature in a way that was curated and readily available, through mass production. Frith's commercial success depended on this intersection of Romanticism and accessibility. What does the “gelatin silver print” tell us? Editor: That it involved a chemical process, a very specific, increasingly standardized procedure of creating photographic art, so it brings into question our definition of the artist or art-making itself...It changes our understanding when looking at it through the lens of labor. I never would have considered it in those terms. Curator: Exactly! It allows us to unpack the Romantic gaze, and connect it with the burgeoning industrial means of its dissemination and reception.