Gezicht op het schiereiland Senglea op Malta 1860 - 1910

Curator: Let's turn our attention to this serene albumen print, dating roughly between 1860 and 1910. It presents a "View of the Senglea Peninsula in Malta", captured by the lens of Horatio Agius. What strikes you first about it? Editor: The scale! It feels both expansive and contained. The way the city seems to rise directly out of the water, fortified and dense, but entirely at the mercy of the sea. And this sense of stillness despite it clearly being a port, teeming with activity. Curator: That tension between activity and stillness is key. This image emerges within the context of 19th-century photography. It served to document both Malta's strategic military importance, reflecting broader European colonial interests and the fascination with capturing 'exotic' locales for consumption back home. Editor: So, this particular print - an albumen print, which means the image is created using egg whites! The material basis then reflects this tension you describe: fragile, organic processes documenting imposing fortifications, places built from stone and human labour that resist the elements, seemingly forever. Curator: Precisely! The choice of albumen, requiring meticulous preparation and printing, also speaks volumes about the labor involved in disseminating such views, bolstering national pride. Think too of the commercial aspect; prints like these helped shape European perceptions and even fed into decisions around colonization. Editor: I keep thinking about that water, though. Its smoothness belies its power, and how much maritime trade defined the city’s character. You see hints of the human presence: ships, docks, and walls; a constant negotiation with and exploitation of the marine environment. Curator: This highlights that ongoing interplay of socio-political structures, captured with then contemporary technologies such as photography to present very particular perspectives on landscape and society. In this instance of the Senglea Peninsula and Malta more generally. Editor: An object of labour and history. I hadn’t considered the wider implication of a seemingly serene image so deeply intertwined with imperial and industrial machinery. Thank you! Curator: Indeed. It's these interplays, how objects shape and are shaped by societies that are so intriguing, aren't they?