Twee mannen in een automobiel in Bar-le-Duc 1900

Curator: The sepia tones lend a real warmth to this photographic portrait from around 1900, titled “Twee mannen in een automobiel in Bar-le-Duc”. Editor: It's striking how much detail is captured in the men’s clothing; I almost feel the tweed of their jackets. And yet there’s also a kind of stillness about the composition. Curator: That stillness is interesting, particularly when thinking about the means of production. These early automobiles represented industrial advancement, wealth, and the very possibility of speed in a society still accustomed to horse-drawn carriages. Do you think the photographer, Delizy, was trying to mediate a tension between these new technologies and older traditions? Editor: I would suggest it could be a tension or perhaps it's capturing a pivotal moment. The contrast of light and shadow focuses the gaze directly onto the subjects; their postures tell of status. How aware were they, do you think, of presenting a new form of modern life to the world through photography, as opposed to simply documenting it? Curator: They are certainly performing modernity for the camera, but perhaps unaware that their performance would contribute to solidifying the automobile as an exclusive commodity rather than simply a new form of transport for the masses. It makes you consider how Delizy’s work participates in constructing these early images of progress. Editor: Right. And the composition itself emphasizes certain class markers; you have a somewhat rigid structure – vertical lines meeting circular forms, and the monochromatic quality directs us towards the nuances of expression on the men's faces and their social positions. I am more inclined to view the presentation of progress in its composition rather than the process of manufacture and marketing. Curator: Yet even in that controlled composition, the surrounding landscape, with the textures and randomness, plays an equally vital role by grounding the entire construction of the new in a social world in need of workers to operate machinery and purchase those newly available goods. It suggests that images of progress always have a background in real working life and labour. Editor: Well, our conversation definitely highlights the complexities embedded in capturing an era undergoing rapid transformation! Curator: Indeed; the photographic process and the end result each offer unique perspectives into an age of transition.