Haringschepen bij Stornoway op Lewis 1851 - 1880

Editor: This is "Haringschepen bij Stornoway op Lewis" or "Herring Ships at Stornoway, Lewis" by James Valentine, a gelatin silver print dating between 1851 and 1880. I’m immediately struck by the sheer number of boats – it really conveys the scale of the herring industry at that time. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The photograph’s materiality is crucial here. A gelatin silver print like this speaks to a specific technological moment, the rise of mass-produced images and their role in shaping perceptions. Consider how this image would have been circulated, and who would have consumed it. This wasn’t just a picture; it was a commodity tied to the fishing industry itself. Editor: That’s a great point. I hadn't considered the image *as* a commodity. Does the composition play into that at all? Curator: Absolutely. The composition is designed to showcase the industry's activity. It's not just about aesthetic beauty. It’s about depicting labour, production, and, ultimately, profit. Look at the light catching the sails. It romanticizes the labor, but also signifies labor under specific light and therefore, time conditions. Whose time and labour is being recorded? And to what end? Editor: So, even a seemingly straightforward landscape photograph like this is embedded in a whole system of production and consumption. Curator: Precisely. Understanding the material and social conditions of its creation allows us to move beyond simply appreciating the image, towards analyzing its role in the broader economic landscape of the time. Editor: This has completely changed how I view photographs now. It's not just about what's depicted, but about the entire system that brought that depiction into being. Curator: Indeed, and each element, from the ship-building materials to the photographic paper, has its own complex story interwoven with labour and commerce.