Gezicht op de oostkust van Nanuku Levu before 1899

Editor: This photograph, “Gezicht op de oostkust van Nanuku Levu,” was taken before 1899 by W. McM. Woodworth and is a gelatin-silver print. It shows the coast of a Fijian island. What immediately strikes me is how textural the land is, like looking at the grooves in wood, while the sea and sky fade almost into nothing. What do you see here? Curator: The texture isn't just about the visible details; it evokes a feeling. Think about what islands represent in the collective unconscious: refuge, isolation, connection to nature. Woodworth has composed this in such a way as to really amplify the feeling of timelessness. Note the way the sharp texture of the rock dominates our field of vision as a metaphor for permanence. Editor: Permanence even while isolated? Curator: Yes! That permanence, that feeling, might even suggest an attempt to fix the essence of this island and its people, which at the time might be viewed as endangered. It serves to freeze the moment in time for the viewer. How does the photograph make you feel? Editor: There’s a sense of stillness, and, now that you mention it, a sense of something almost being preserved… it wasn’t my first impression, but the way you break down the symbolic associations does push it in that direction. It’s like the artist understood what islands and insularity mean, both the promise and the potential threat of that. I hadn't fully registered how constructed and mediated the image itself is. Curator: Exactly, our reaction reflects something from cultural memory that speaks across time through powerful visual imagery. It's quite fascinating!