Pirori-geiser c. 1865 - 1875

Editor: This gelatin-silver print, "Pirori-geiser" by Daniel Louis Mundy, created sometime between 1865 and 1875, has such a mysterious quality. It looks almost otherworldly, and the composition is so unusual within this photo album format. What makes this piece stand out to you? Curator: What interests me immediately is how Mundy chose to frame this raw, natural phenomenon. Landscape photography in this period was often linked to colonial exploration and scientific documentation. Did he see this through a similar lens? Or was it something more? Editor: What do you mean by colonial exploration? Curator: These images, circulated back in Europe, shaped perceptions of distant lands. Consider how such imagery might justify certain political or economic agendas. It's important to consider the power dynamics at play. Editor: So, was Mundy trying to exoticize or legitimize? Or maybe he had no real agenda. It is difficult to tell without more information. Curator: Exactly. It prompts us to question who gets to represent what and how photography, even then, wasn't neutral. We must remember that the technology was very new back then, and to preserve this photo it meant to keep it within an album like this one. By carefully pasting his prints on the paper he also selected which image went next to which one, what image needed to be on display for people to see and engage. Editor: I didn’t consider that about the album. Thinking about the photographs together adds another dimension. Thanks, this makes me see the artwork through a fresh perspective! Curator: Indeed! The medium itself – the photograph, the album – shapes our experience.