Gezicht op Château Malescot St. Exupéry in Margaux, Frankrijk before 1867

Curator: Oh, I find this so enchanting! We're looking at an albumen print titled "Gezicht op Château Malescot St. Exupéry in Margaux, Frankrijk," believed to be created before 1867 by Alfred Danflou. What strikes you most immediately? Editor: The somber tone jumps out. It feels like a scene shrouded in history, that the photo captures an enduring moment that we're now a fly on the wall for. Almost like peeking through time's keyhole. Curator: Precisely! Danflou seems to capture that timelessness using plein-air photography, emphasizing the real, breathing world around the Château. The softness of the print and the romanticism gives it that wistful feeling, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely. And that ornamental border! It frames the subject matter, as the trees do in the photograph itself, underscoring its inherent visual structure and inherent symmetry. Curator: Right! By using that framed presentation and this medium of albumen print, it gives it this elevated and almost precious quality. Which seems interesting as a contrast to the reality of this place and people that inhabit it. Editor: It’s a deliberate construction, manipulating reality to serve an aesthetic ideal. This pre-photographic manipulation becomes a significant commentary on how photography was perceived as the art world evolved through that moment. Curator: Yes! A blend of romanticism and academic ideals attempting to meet within a single work. And in a way it feels so beautifully melancholy now looking back through a different lens! Editor: Indeed, the work encourages one to pause, reflect on the transient nature of visual art through photographic artmaking in landscape, and its lasting effect that speaks still today. Curator: That really makes one wonder, how Danflou might react knowing we are still talking about it today! Thank you for diving in!