The portrait of my father at the bank of the Cardigan Bay (Aberystwyth, Wales) 2010

Curator: We're now looking at Alfred Freddy Krupa's 2010 gelatin silver print, "The portrait of my father at the bank of the Cardigan Bay (Aberystwyth, Wales)". Editor: It has such a somber mood, despite the open landscape. The monochrome enhances a sense of solitude and contemplation. The father figure looks stoic against the vast horizon. Curator: Krupa’s choice of gelatin silver print links him to a historical tradition, highlighting the importance of the darkroom process in image making. Consider the labor and craftsmanship involved in creating a physical object like this today. Editor: Yes, the grayscale offers an almost analytical breakdown of tone, pushing formal aspects like the contrast between the dark clothing and the bright sky. It also emphasizes texture in the rocks, water and his face. Curator: Exactly. The setting—the bank of Cardigan Bay—becomes less about picturesque scenery and more about the material and lived experiences of a working-class landscape. This piece is made in Wales; this context can impact the means of production and presentation. Editor: I find the framing of the figure significant. He is not presented as towering above the landscape but intimately placed within it, suggesting interconnectedness. This connection is strengthened by formal visual strategies, especially tonal balances that draw your eye from foreground to background, then back to the central figure. Curator: By combining portraiture with landscape photography in a seemingly informal shot, Krupa subtly challenges high/low art divisions and speaks to wider issues of family memory. Its creation as a physical object pushes that discussion. Editor: The gelatin silver printing technique emphasizes its artistic form, but its tonal precision lends a photojournalistic directness, as if documentary and familial sentiment blur. I find this in constant visual conversation. Curator: Food for thought, certainly. And it encourages a look past formal qualities towards considering who the photograph is for, who is it portraying, and how they come together. Editor: I agree. There's an interesting tension between intimacy and formality in the portrait and this print overall offers such interesting ground for future study and reflection.