Versteende lava op Tenerife 1856 - 1858

This is "Versteende lava op Tenerife," a photograph by Charles Piazzi Smyth. The photograph is pasted into a book and depicts a landscape of solidified lava. Smyth was an astronomer, and we might consider the ways in which science, exploration, and image-making intersected in the 19th century. Smyth traveled to Tenerife to conduct astronomical observations. His journey reflects the scientific expeditions of the era, often tied to colonial expansion and the desire to map and understand the world. As we look at this seemingly objective image of lava, we should ask ourselves about the power dynamics inherent in the act of observation and documentation. Who gets to represent whom and what? Consider, too, the cultural narratives around landscape. Does this image perpetuate romantic ideas of the sublime, or does it offer a more empirical view? What does it mean to capture a landscape, to turn it into an object of study? "Versteende lava op Tenerife" prompts us to think about the layers of meaning embedded in the act of seeing and recording the world.