Fotoreproductie van een gezicht op een rechtszaak in Basilica te Pompeï before 1895

This photograph shows a reproduction of a scene in the Basilica at Pompeii. While we don’t know who made this image, or precisely when, the photographic process itself carries significant social meaning. Photography in its early years was a labor-intensive endeavor. Creating an image like this would have involved not only technical mastery of the camera and developing process, but also a good understanding of chemistry, optics and lighting. The photographer would have to prepare their own glass plates, sensitize them with chemicals, expose the image in the camera, and then develop the plate in a darkroom. In this case, the photographer reproduced a visual scene of a legal proceeding. So, the act of capturing and disseminating this image also speaks to the changing nature of information, social class and power in an industrializing world. Photography democratized image-making, allowing broader access to visual representations of the world. Ultimately, this object challenges our assumptions about craft and art, by emphasizing the skilled labor and technical knowledge involved in the making process, regardless of the image it depicts.