Onbekende personen bij een water langs een stadsmuur before 1920

Editor: This gelatin-silver print, titled "Onbekende personen bij een water langs een stadsmuur," by Donald Mennie, is likely from before 1920. I’m struck by the seemingly timeless quality of the city scene. It could almost be a painting! What can you tell me about it? Curator: Well, placing this photograph within its historical and cultural context is key. Mennie was a Western photographer documenting early 20th century China. So, how do you think his perspective might have influenced the image? Editor: I imagine he would have seen the city through a Western lens. Maybe he was trying to capture something "exotic" or "authentic" for a Western audience? Curator: Precisely. Photography, at that time, especially of non-Western cultures, was often tied to ideas of colonialism and power. Mennie wasn't just documenting; he was participating in a visual dialogue, constructing a specific narrative about China for viewers back home. Editor: So the 'unknown people' might be there more as points of interest to Westerners? Almost staged? Curator: Not necessarily staged, but definitely selected. Consider the angle, the lighting, and the way the city wall dominates the composition. It presents a grand, somewhat romantic, vision of a faraway land, ripe for Western consumption and influence. How does that sit with you? Editor: It's unsettling. I initially just saw a pretty cityscape, but now I see how it’s intertwined with issues of representation and cultural power. It makes you think about who gets to tell whose story, and why. Curator: Exactly. These photographs offer so much more than a simple depiction of a place. They reveal the complex social and political dynamics at play in a particular moment in history. Editor: I never would have looked at it that way! Thank you. I’ll remember to question the photographer’s viewpoint when observing similar photographs.