Gezicht op Ca' Pesaro in Venetië c. 1860 - 1880

This photograph of Ca' Pesaro in Venice was produced by Sommer & Behles, using the albumen print process. This technique, popular in the 19th century, involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate, then exposing it to light through a negative. The albumen print gives this image its distinctive sepia tone and smooth surface, almost mirroring the watery scene it captures. The process itself speaks to a moment in the industrial revolution where photography became more accessible, allowing for mass production and distribution of images. Though, it still required the skilled labor of photographers like Sommer & Behles, who captured not just the building, but a moment in Venice's ever changing relationship with water. By focusing on the material and process behind this photograph, we can understand it not just as a picture, but as an object embedded in a specific time and place.