The Great White Owl 1771

Curator: This is "The Great White Owl," a print made in 1771. Editor: It looks stark. Something about the way the pencil and engraving highlight the owl's plumage gives it a ghostly, almost ethereal presence against the sparse background. Curator: These prints played a crucial role in the circulation of knowledge about the natural world. Before photography, engravings like this were vital in disseminating visual information, especially within scientific communities and among educated elites. Editor: Interesting, you can see the labor here, can't you? The repetitive marks that meticulously render each feather... Someone really took time studying the material qualities of this bird—the softness of its down, the sharpness of its talons. I wonder who made it? Curator: It's credited to "Anonymous". The act of replicating an image allowed knowledge to spread beyond geographical boundaries, standardizing perceptions but often obscuring authorship, in this case entirely. Editor: It raises questions, though, doesn't it? About access to these creatures. Who owned this image? Who was intended to consume it? What labor practice brought us the picture in its circulation process, as well as who owned the resources, such as materials and expertise to be able to afford it? Curator: The market for natural history prints flourished alongside colonialism. These images participated in the construction of scientific authority and the visual cataloging of the world, simultaneously feeding into imperial ambitions and demonstrating a refined sensibility within social circles back home. Editor: A sensibility often paid for by exploitation, though. I see that tree the owl sits on –the land as commodity or possession. I find myself trying to reconcile the implied violence with this idea of ‘knowledge.’ Curator: A poignant reflection, certainly, offering insights into the power dynamics embedded within visual culture. Editor: Precisely, highlighting the critical intersection of material creation, and power relations!