Gezicht op de Niagarawatervallen 1860s - 1870s

Curator: This striking stereoscopic image, "Gezicht op de Niagarawatervallen," was captured by Platt D. Babbitt sometime in the 1860s or 70s using the gelatin silver process. What springs to mind when you first see it? Editor: An overwhelming sense of vastness. And a kind of dreamy timelessness… It feels almost more like a memory of a waterfall than the real thing. A quiet stillness amidst roaring power. Curator: Yes, exactly! Babbitt wasn't just snapping a photo; he was curating an experience, wouldn’t you agree? You see, with the stereoscope, this image would have popped, giving depth and presence. He enhanced it with watercolor as well—definitely pushing the boundaries of straight photography of that period. Editor: I do wonder why he opted for that almost ghostly pallor. It gives this almost Romantic yearning feel… The water’s frozen gesture certainly heightens that. The composition, cleaved into almost symmetrical halves by the format… feels deliberate, perhaps hinting at the duality of nature – its terrifying power and breathtaking beauty, coexisting. Curator: I love that observation! It is indeed compelling how he presents the fall framed almost like a theatrical stage. In a way, Babbitt captured more than just Niagara; he captured a vision, his emotion about Niagara and, for some, his artwork encapsulates humanity's eternal fascination with it, perhaps also humanity’s place in Nature… tiny in its thrall. Editor: Agreed. I find it intensely compelling how such a seemingly straightforward landscape can provoke so much contemplation about ourselves. It almost makes you question reality, and how little our perspective means compared to geological time… Thank you for guiding me, this experience has broadened my own view of Pictorialism as more than just aesthetics. Curator: And for me too – your reading helps to place our felt and visceral responses within something grander, timeless. Let’s explore the exhibition’s next room, shall we?