Gezicht op Nijmegen vanaf de overkant van de Waal c. 1885 - 1890

Editor: This gelatin silver print, taken by Wilhelm Ivens sometime between 1885 and 1890, shows a view of Nijmegen from across the Waal river. I find myself immediately drawn to its melancholic atmosphere, almost like a hazy dreamscape. What resonates with you when you look at this piece? Curator: It's interesting you say that, because I feel similarly. It evokes in me a certain nostalgia, doesn't it? Perhaps it's the sepia tones, like an old photograph from a forgotten attic. But more than that, it is the river. Note how it dominates the foreground. To me, that says it all - the flow of life, of history, perpetually moving. But does it give you the impression of bustling city life? I wonder. Editor: I see the hazy skyline, yes, but it’s more the serenity of the water that gets to me. Like the city is reflecting on something. Curator: Exactly! Reflections can often lead us toward introspection. I wonder, did Ivens intend to portray Nijmegen as this contemplative presence on the water’s edge? The soft focus definitely contributes. It blurs the hard edges of reality, inviting a more emotional response, and this is where I see hints of pictorialism peeking through, trying to make photography more artistic. But do you find the composition balanced? I see a slight imbalance between the city skyline, and the heavy Waal river below, no? Editor: Yes, now that you mention it, there's something unsettling about that weight at the bottom. Almost as if the future is uncertain and heavy. Curator: Ah, yes! Beautiful. The photo can become an interpretation of one's present and one’s near future… Ivens definitely offered us much more than just a simple cityscape. Editor: I hadn’t considered that – I was stuck on seeing it as just a landscape photo! Curator: That's the magic, isn't it? To see how a single image can hold so many stories. Thanks to photography, even a melancholic piece of the Low Countries can elicit emotion, prompt endless self-reflection.