Gezicht op het Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh c. 1870 - 1890

This photograph of the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh was taken by James Valentine, a Scottish photographer, in the late 19th century, a period marked by significant advancements in medicine and the rise of institutional healthcare. Valentine’s composition captures the hospital as a monumental, almost castle-like structure, set against a vast, open field. The Infirmary, established in 1729, symbolizes the era’s ambition to address public health, yet it also embodies the complex power dynamics inherent in medical institutions. During this time, hospitals were sites of both healing and social control, where the poor and marginalized often found themselves subject to the gaze and authority of the medical establishment. The image evokes the distance between the viewer and the institution, prompting us to consider who had access to this care and who remained outside its gates. What does it mean to frame healthcare as a grand, imposing edifice?