Gezicht op bruggen bij Le Grand Quai in Genève before 1880

This photograph of bridges at Le Grand Quai in Geneva was taken by Auguste Garcin sometime in the 19th century using the albumen print process, a popular technique at the time. The albumen print was developed in 1850 and quickly became the dominant form of photographic printing because of its ability to produce finely detailed images with a wide tonal range. The process involved coating paper with albumen, the white of an egg, mixed with a salt solution, then sensitizing it with silver nitrate. Contact printed under a negative, the result is a glossy image, with the final color depending on the toning process used. The texture and tone give a tangible sense of the era. It provides us with an insight into the labor and material processes that produced it. Thinking about the context in which the work was made, helps us to appreciate its historical significance and its relationship to both art and craft.