Stadsgezicht met kanaal 1902

Curator: This is "Stadsgezicht met kanaal," a photograph taken in 1902 by Frits Freerks Fontein Fz. Editor: The stillness of the water is what grabs me first. It creates such a perfect mirror, reflecting a somber version of the world above. There’s a quiet, almost melancholy feel to it. Curator: It is interesting to think about how cityscapes as a photographic subject speak to emerging ideas about modernity at the time. The cityscape is no longer this chaotic, unknowable space. Instead, we have photography claiming new perspectives on urbanization. Who is afforded this type of calm reflection within burgeoning capitalist cities and who is excluded from that experience? Editor: And isn't the canal itself an old symbol, both of connection and division? Here it physically splits the city in two while offering an avenue for commerce and community. The photographer is emphasizing the harmony of progress. I note also that the dark tone gives a classical appeal even for something taken with photography, something industrial itself. The windmill at the end of the canal, juxtaposed against the urban expansion… Curator: Precisely. The windmill is a nod to traditional economies within this modernizing landscape. It's no accident the artist chose this vantage point. There are clear efforts to legitimize and contextualize cityscapes within notions of heritage and perhaps even protest its perceived displacement within the present moment. Editor: There's a ghostliness too. Everything seems frozen, not quite of this world, though decidedly earthly. Curator: Fontein Fz.'s photograph, taken over a century ago, invites us to reflect on not only how much cityscapes have transformed, but how persistent underlying tensions within capitalist paradigms and notions of community have been for minoritized folks navigating their cities. Editor: Yes. Gazing into this quiet reflection lets us confront deeper streams of consciousness, social as well as personal, still very active today.