Landschap met geiser 1880 - 1900

Curator: It has a quiet power, don't you think? It captures an awakening, in monochrome. Editor: This is "Landschap met geiser," a photograph attributed to Charles Roscoe Savage, dating roughly between 1880 and 1900. Currently, it resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Its artistry lies not only in capturing the realism of the natural scene, but in an early mastery of photomontage. Curator: Ah yes, awakening but also slightly ominous. The starkness of the landscape surrounding the erupting geyser really emphasizes its power. Do you see how the geyser appears almost spectral against that brooding sky? Editor: Indeed! In those times, geysers, like volcanoes, symbolized raw, untamed forces, divine maybe. The wisps of steam and cloud create an image of creation itself. Photographers back then were striving for the same grand aesthetic as painters; a single image could be several combined. This particular geyser stands out for its phallic suggestion, and speaks to the landscape tradition representing natural elements as a force of reproduction and creation. Curator: The artistic value lies there, that this was deliberately constructed, in the manipulation of the image! What the artist did there was not a rendering of pure objective reality but an idea, and with that brings social and political motivations. Photomontage offered control over what nature 'should' represent. I wonder if it was Savage's conscious effort to amplify nature's grandeur in a time of immense industrial development, as if to show civilization's relative smallness against untamed force? Editor: It certainly begs that reading, I can imagine him using that motif, yes! But he makes a compelling case here, regardless. You see that even today! It does inspire us to reflect on the awesome powers of the natural world. Curator: Definitely! The interplay of earth, water, and sky is a timeless emblem of potential, it reminds us of nature's resilience and how Savage has created such a memorable impact by capturing its forceful display.