Replica's van oud-Hollandse gevels met ervoor een musicerend gezelschap tijdens de Wereldtentoonstelling voor het Hotel- en Reiswezen op het Museumplein in 1895 1895

This photograph by Guy de Coral & Co. captures the replica of old Dutch facades during the World Exhibition for the Hotel and Tourism Industry on Museum Square in 1895. Photography is often considered a modern medium, born of industrial chemistry. The sepia tones of this print speak to the historical moment, a period in which new modes of production were rapidly changing European cities. The photograph records a created environment meant to evoke a picturesque past. Yet, the presence of a musical group and the gathering crowd, also reflect the leisure time afforded by changing labor practices. Here we have both the real and represented, the contemporary and historical all captured in one image. The layers of artifice in this photograph remind us that our understanding of history is always mediated through the materials and making of its representation.