['Athenaeum', 'Old chapel', 'Lyceum', 'Berzelius Hall'] before 1882

Curator: Looking at this photograph, probably from before 1882, we see James Notman's compilation of architectural scenes on the Yale campus, images entitled 'Athenaeum', 'Old Chapel', 'Lyceum', and 'Berzelius Hall'. Editor: Immediately, the somber grey tones and bare winter trees give the buildings a stately, yet somewhat melancholic aura. Curator: Indeed, Notman's work, rendered as a print, serves as more than mere documentation. The very act of reproducing these architectural forms allows us to consider their circulation, their role as symbols of institutional power. Consider how academic art lends authority to institutions through crafted imagery. Editor: Precisely! It also strikes me how each building has its own distinctive geometry. One, a towering, almost gothic spire reaching heavenward, next to it, squat heavy roman arches of knowledge pressing into the ground. Curator: We can ponder the materials – stone and brick. Where were these materials sourced? Who were the laborers quarrying and constructing these buildings? It forces us to contemplate the hands, quite literally, that shaped these icons of higher learning. Editor: And the deliberate compositions, framing each structure with stark, reaching trees…It speaks to me of the transient nature of seasons contrasted against these presumably eternal, if not imperious buildings of higher education. Perhaps this tension mirrors the fleeting experiences of youth and enduring power of establishment. Curator: Ultimately, Notman's photography invites us to unpack these representations of the university and to ask uncomfortable, yet crucial, questions about access, labor, and the very fabric upon which these institutions are built. Editor: I will admit to feeling a peculiar fascination by its stark depiction. These historical records can teach us about what endures through time. I guess time shows that we all need each other - buildings and all.