Gezicht op een gebouw in Bretagne, Frankrijk 1860 - 1900

Curator: This photograph, titled "Gezicht op een gebouw in Bretagne, Frankrijk," presents us with a captivating cityscape from sometime between 1860 and 1900. It's an albumen print. Editor: My first impression is the photograph seems steeped in a sense of stillness. The light feels muted, lending the architecture an air of quiet dignity despite what is seemingly a civic building. Curator: That dignity, I think, comes through strongly when we consider what Brittany represented during this era: a region grappling with French centralization. The photograph potentially serves as a quiet assertion of local identity in the face of national homogenization. How was space constructed then, and how does this affect women, people of color and minorities in the frame? Editor: From my perspective, the albumen print gives such richness. You can nearly discern the individual bricks and roof tiles; that process creates this meticulous depiction. How much did its local availability influence Chala’s choice, or the aesthetic? Curator: A fascinating question. Also, what socio-political agenda underpins the work, how much access would women and people of colour have had, or not, at that time? But do we think that that building's imposing structure mirrors the hierarchical societal systems reflected in many aspects of European life at the time? Editor: Possibly. While the architecture indeed speaks to permanence and perhaps authority, I am equally drawn to the more subdued tonal range and careful, precise detail inherent in the printing process. Curator: Right, and thinking about how these photographs might have circulated and who they reached can offer a window onto colonial attitudes toward regions viewed as "peripheral." This image, though seemingly straightforward, asks questions about power dynamics, labor, class, gender, race. Editor: Precisely, but also regarding craft itself – the meticulous process, the physicality of albumen, it points to human effort, even in this seemingly straightforward shot of a civic building. That combination, it resonates. Curator: Thinking about the work now, its impact grows. Editor: For me, thinking about the photograph itself -- how it captures place through material, connects us back through labor and context. It has shifted.