Zoetwaterafdeling van het Berliner Aquarium, gezien vanuit de viskwekerij 1869 - 1890

This is S.P. Christmann's photo of the freshwater section of the Berliner Aquarium, seen from the fish farm. As photography developed in the 19th century, it became a tool for documenting and framing the world. This image provides us with a window into the cultural values and scientific interests of the time. The architecture of the aquarium, designed to mimic natural grottoes, speaks to the period’s fascination with natural history and the desire to display and categorize the natural world. The photograph is also marked by the historical context of colonialism and the rise of scientific racism, which often saw the natural world and its inhabitants as objects of study and control. Consider the act of viewing these aquatic creatures in an artificial environment. It’s a spectacle, certainly, but it also implies a relationship of power and domination over nature and perhaps, by extension, over other cultures and peoples. The aquarium then becomes not just a site of scientific curiosity, but a reflection of broader societal attitudes toward nature, knowledge, and control. This image encourages us to reflect on our own relationship with the natural world and the historical forces that shape how we see and interact with it.