Gezicht op een diamantmijn in Zuid-Afrika, vermoedelijk bij Kimberley before 1880

This photographic print of a diamond mine, likely in Kimberley, South Africa, was made by the Gray Brothers. The image is a window onto a landscape profoundly shaped by industry, labor, and the global desire for precious stones. The monochromatic tones emphasize the stark, almost lunar quality of the terrain. But look closer: the material of the photograph itself—the paper and the chemical process that created the image—speaks to the rapid industrialization of the 19th century. Consider the labor involved: from the miners who toiled in the pit, to the photographers who documented their work, to the printers who mass-produced these images. The Gray Brothers weren't just artists, but participants in a system of production that extracted resources from the earth and transformed them into objects of desire and documentation. This photograph invites us to reflect on the relationship between extraction, labor, and the visual representation of industry.