Schepen voor de kust in de Verenigde Staten 1900 - 1917

William James Mullins made this photograph of ships off the United States coast sometime between 1860 and 1917. The photographic process, even more so than today, was steeped in chemistry, physics, and technical knowledge; requiring a high degree of skill. Mullins would have used a camera obscura to capture the image, which was then chemically developed, fixed, and printed, resulting in the monochromatic print we see before us. But this is not just a feat of technique; look at all those ships. The amount of human labor implied in the production of all those vessels - the hewing of wood, the forging of metal, the weaving of rope - it is mind-boggling. They speak to a whole society organized around maritime trade and transport. Considering the photograph’s chemical composition and its depiction, we can fully appreciate the art, craft, and social history embedded in this captivating image.