Straat in Napels met paardenkoetsen en voorbijgangers c. 1880 - 1920

This is a photograph of a street in Naples with horse-drawn carriages and passers-by, made by an anonymous artist. As a photographic print, the image is made by capturing light with a lens and fixing it onto a photosensitive surface. Consider the chemical processes involved in creating this image, and its status as a mass-reproducible document. The photograph's very existence speaks to the rise of industrial capitalism and a growing middle class. While the elite could commission unique painted portraits, photography offered a relatively affordable way to capture and disseminate images of people and places. The composition and subject matter, a bustling street scene, capture the energy and dynamism of modern urban life. It immortalizes a specific moment in time, but also reflects broader social and economic changes that were transforming European cities. Photography democratized image-making, placing it in the hands of a wider range of practitioners and consumers. It encouraged new ways of seeing, documenting, and understanding the world.