Vier gezichten op waterwegen rond Hamburg 1894

Curator: At first glance, it feels very serene, almost nostalgic. The soft lighting and gentle tones evoke a quiet stillness. Editor: This is a print entitled "Vier gezichten op waterwegen rond Hamburg," or "Four Views of waterways around Hamburg," created by Wilhelm Dreesen in 1894. Curator: Four separate photographs brought together—what's immediately striking is the use of pictorialism. Notice how Dreesen has manipulated the photographic process to achieve an aesthetic more akin to painting. Editor: Absolutely. The focus is softened, and the tonal range is carefully controlled to create a sense of atmosphere, quite divorced from the kind of direct recording we associate with photography. What kind of audience do you think this would have appealed to back then? Curator: Given the rise of industrial Hamburg, a growing bourgeois audience may have felt an acute loss for the untouched and natural. Photography here is elevated—shown to create aesthetically pleasing landscapes that harken back to pre-industrial beauty and leisure. Note how the scenes exclude industry. The vantage points and details were clearly chosen for that. Editor: Agreed. I'm particularly drawn to the image in the lower right. The architectural details reflected on the calm water really speak to the skill and visual intention in the selection of subject and vantage. What might that building be? Curator: Likely an estate, built by merchant or a banker during Hamburg's rise to economic power—power now being redirected into refined leisure pursuits. Dreesen is reminding this new moneyed class of what should be valued and appreciated in Hamburg as their urban environment is drastically altered by growth. Editor: Interesting, because there is no overt messaging that this is against new economic realities, is there? Curator: None at all—simply images presented as cultural heritage worthy of photographic preservation and admiration. Editor: Well, exploring these "Four Views of waterways around Hamburg" reveals more than meets the eye. I came for composition and form, and left thinking about industrial Hamburg! Curator: Exactly, and hopefully others see how photography itself gains artistic weight in relation to such considerations of its era and social life.