Kalksteengroeve van Rüdersdorf, nabij Berlijn 1868 - 1870

Editor: So, this is Johann Friedrich Stiehm’s "Limestone Quarry of Rüdersdorf, near Berlin," taken sometime between 1868 and 1870. It's a photograph, a print. It feels… stark, almost oppressive with that massive rock face looming over everything. What strikes you when you look at this? Curator: Oppressive, yes, but also suggestive. Consider the dark openings in the rock – do they not evoke a sense of the underworld, a descent into the earth’s mysteries? These quarries are more than just holes in the ground; they are symbolic wounds inflicted by industry. We see this tension played out again and again, a theme the photograph evokes. What is the symbolic significance of the bird in the foreground, isolated like that? Editor: A bird! I hadn't even noticed. It’s so small compared to everything else. Maybe it’s a symbol of nature persisting, even in this industrial space? Curator: Precisely! Think of it as the lingering spirit of nature, a resilient counterpoint to the dominating forces of industrialization. It is an invitation, I think, to look closely. Photography at this time carried symbolic meaning, and the subject often spoke to grander human and social narratives. Stiehm encourages us to think about cultural memory associated with this place. Do we see only industry here or nature and death, the tension that comes with progress? Editor: So, the image is more than just a photograph of a quarry. It's a statement about humanity's relationship with the earth. I’ll never look at a landscape photograph the same way. Curator: Exactly. It’s a reminder that images carry echoes of our past and whisper about our future. The marks we leave shape not just the landscape but our collective memory.