Slatefield before 1878

Curator: Thomas Annan's "Slatefield," dating back to before 1878, offers us a glimpse into a very specific time and place. The image itself is mounted within the pages of a book. Editor: My immediate impression is of a kind of stark, melancholic beauty. It feels very much rooted in its time. I’m drawn to the texture of the aged paper around the mounted photograph itself. Curator: I’m also interested in how the physicality of the book form, the materials used, impacts our perception of this building, and our encounter with this photograph. We have this industrial printing alongside this older building it shows. The means of production, how readily available this information became, feels crucial. Editor: Absolutely. And what does the building itself signify? That solid, symmetrical structure with the stark windows… there’s a sense of permanence and order, maybe even authority, contrasted against the skeletal tree in the foreground. It feels like winter, dormancy, even a hint of decay encroaching upon this symbol of stability. Curator: It makes me think about class and the representation of labor too. Annan was commissioned to document these changing landscapes, and that was, fundamentally, about labor – who owns the means of production, who controls the land. This volume served a function. It recorded for posterity. Editor: The handwritten script alongside the image adds another layer, doesn’t it? It roots the image in a specific narrative, a kind of historical record, giving the building a clear context and a sort of cultural weight, embedding this building as more than bricks and mortar. It gives the building a soul. Curator: By framing "Slatefield" within the book's context, we see the interplay between preservation and transformation through reproductive technologies and their access points. Editor: I agree. Ultimately, "Slatefield," immortalized in ink and photograph, speaks to how the seemingly mundane acquires layers of meaning over time.