Gezicht op Menton vanaf de Italiaanse grens c. 1886 - 1896

Editor: This is "Gezicht op Menton vanaf de Italiaanse grens," or "View of Menton from the Italian Border," a gelatin-silver print, placing it in the late 19th century. There's such a serene, almost wistful mood about this photograph, capturing this coastal town nestled amidst hills. What stories do you think this image holds? Curator: I see more than just a pretty vista. Consider Menton itself – a border town. The image becomes about boundaries, transitions. The sea traditionally symbolizes the subconscious, the mountains permanence. Is this photograph an exploration of the conscious and the subconscious mind negotiating geographical and emotional space? Editor: That's fascinating, this idea of boundaries, and negotiating space. I hadn’t considered it in that way. Do you think the choice of black and white photography, rather than, say, painting, contributes to that feeling? Curator: Absolutely. Black and white lends itself to a sense of historical distance and perhaps a stripping away of the immediate sensual experience, forcing us to consider deeper, more symbolic meanings. Think of the way memory functions. It's not always vivid colour, often a faded, abstracted version of reality. The gelatin-silver process itself would have been relatively new – a modern eye capturing an ancient landscape. It makes one wonder, what aspects of that 'modern eye' would we find alien or revealing today? Editor: So, you're saying it is more than just a picture postcard of the city? It’s the symbolic juxtaposition of land and sea? Curator: Precisely! And how the technology of the time captured those elements through careful choices of when, where, and why to frame it. Editor: That definitely gives me a new appreciation for what I initially saw as just a landscape. I now think of it as more of a narrative, or an unfolding question. Curator: And that is what great images often do - reveal layers of meaning waiting to be discovered.