Valley--Landscape 1941 - 1945

Editor: This is Robert Frank's "Valley--Landscape," taken sometime between 1941 and 1945. It's a beautiful, classically composed photograph in black and white. There's a definite Romantic mood here for me. What draws your eye when you look at this photograph? Curator: Immediately, I think about the silver gelatin printmaking process. Its inherent alchemy and materiality—the layering of light and chemicals, the manipulation of the darkroom, that translates the natural world. Look closely; the textures aren’t merely representations of grass or wood but reveal the very hands that made the work. Editor: That's fascinating. So you’re less focused on the picturesque scene itself and more on the making of it? Curator: Precisely. Think about photography as a *process* during this era, and about darkroom practice as being more like *labor*. How does this challenge our assumptions about high art and the everyday, crafted object? Look how the image's final presentation emphasizes these details. Editor: I see your point. The softness of the image isn't just aesthetic; it reflects the materials and techniques available. I’d never thought of photography as labour like that before! Curator: And consider its historical context! Frank captured this between 1941-45, what large scale manufacturing endeavor was going on at that exact same moment? Can this natural landscape provide solace, a necessary counterbalance to a mechanized society during the war? Editor: Absolutely, now I’m seeing that this seemingly straightforward landscape is deeply intertwined with the physical process of its creation and also reflects anxieties of wartime. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure! I find, when looking through this lens, that there's so much that can be unpacked through this image's material existence, it's incredible.