Falls of Amanoosuck 1854

Editor: Here we have John Adams Whipple’s photograph, "Falls of Amanoosuck." It's quite striking, almost tactile in its depiction of the rock formations. What draws your eye to this particular image? Curator: It's a fascinating study in early photographic technology. The process itself, likely a daguerreotype or early paper negative, dictated a certain stillness. The long exposure transforms the water into this ethereal, almost manufactured substance. Editor: Manufactured? Curator: Yes. Think about the labor involved in setting up the shot, the chemistry, the very deliberate act of capturing this scene. It ceases to be simply a natural landscape and becomes a product of industry, a consumable image. Editor: That gives me a new way to appreciate not only the scene, but the process of its making.