[Crow's Nest Signal Tower, Right of Bermuda Hundred, Virginia (Army of the James Signal Tower, Left of Bermuda Hundred Lines, Virginia)] 1861 - 1865

Curator: Looking at this stark, monochrome image, I feel a strange pull. There’s something about the loneliness of that tower… a silent sentinel. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: My immediate impression is how raw it looks, almost industrial, yet set within this ragged landscape. This is a gelatin-silver print titled "[Crow's Nest Signal Tower, Right of Bermuda Hundred, Virginia (Army of the James Signal Tower, Left of Bermuda Hundred Lines, Virginia)]", captured sometime between 1861 and 1865 by Andrew Joseph Russell. A signal tower; war machinery presented as… architecture. Curator: Yes, it's brutal honesty, isn’t it? The way the light falls feels devoid of hope, yet it also possesses an odd grandeur, as if celebrating the human drive for… strategic vantage, I suppose. I keep thinking about what it felt like to be up there. Editor: I’m struck by the engineering. This tower, likely constructed rapidly, shows the use of readily available materials, probably timber from the surrounding forests, quickly assembled to achieve a specific tactical purpose. What was the environmental and human cost to build it quickly in such a way? The process and materials are really part of the narrative, aren't they? Curator: Definitely. It stands as a monument to urgency and utilitarianism, certainly. All that energy funneled into lines of sight. Looking at this geometric construction against that softer natural setting—it feels like an unsettling juxtaposition. As if one reality violently interrupts another. Editor: Right. And considering that context – the American Civil War, with its complex and brutal realities – a photograph like this invites reflection about technology, labor, and how both reshaped both physical and political landscapes. Even something ostensibly functional can tell us a lot. Curator: I agree completely. I walked into this viewing with certain ideas in mind and already, my perspective has been twisted—re-oriented toward considering aspects I had previously left in the shadow. The value of different vantage points... very apropos here. Editor: Absolutely, me too. We have circled back, quite fittingly, to the tower in the image: it gives its own perspective, just like art should.