Gezicht op rivier c. 1880 - 1920

Editor: Here we have "Gezicht op rivier," or "View of the River," a gelatin-silver albumen print from sometime between 1880 and 1920. It's a very still and quiet scene, almost melancholic. I'm curious about your perspective. How do you see this work? Curator: Considering it's a photographic albumen print, likely mass-produced for stereo viewing, I see a manufactured image of serenity meant for consumption. The materiality is crucial; the process involved labor, resources, and a specific social context of leisure and technological advancement. What does this depiction of a "river view" really offer the viewer beyond an easily reproducible and consumable form of nature? Editor: So you're saying it's less about the artistic expression and more about the means of production and distribution? Is the subject even relevant? Curator: Precisely. While the landscape evokes a certain mood, its significance lies in how it reflects the industrialization and commodification of nature through photography. This river scene becomes a tangible object, mediated by the technology and economic forces of the time. The value lies not in the uniqueness of the view, but in the processes that allowed its broad distribution. What kind of societal consumption would necessitate a piece like this? Editor: I hadn’t really considered that aspect before. So it’s less about the beauty and more about the labour and commercial background that made its existence possible. Curator: Exactly. The appeal to nature in the photograph, the material from which it is created and sold, as well as the labor for each of these parts, challenge notions of a removed and individualized ‘artistic genius’ from the process of making art. Editor: I see. It really shifts my understanding of the image. Thanks for pointing that out!