Gezicht op drie hotels bij Turckheim before 1894

Editor: This is Charles Bernhoeft's "Gezicht op drie hotels bij Turckheim," a photograph dating from before 1894. It's a lovely composition, quite serene and composed, even with what appear to be relatively large hotels nestled in the landscape. What stands out to you? Curator: It’s interesting how the hotels, despite their size, are visually integrated into the landscape. Early tourism often involved reshaping and commodifying landscapes for public consumption. Do you think this image is intended as pure documentation, or does it present a specific idea about tourism? Editor: I hadn’t thought about that angle! Maybe it’s promoting a sense of harmony between nature and these modern hotels? A carefully curated view for the prospective visitor? Curator: Exactly. Photography at this time often served to shape public perception and promote certain ideals. These hotels probably catered to a specific clientele, shaping experiences that echoed certain colonial power structures in a “civilized” landscape. Does knowing that change how you feel about its "serene" quality? Editor: Absolutely. I was only looking at the surface, the visual balance. It makes me wonder about what’s excluded from the frame and who these hotels were really for. Curator: The social context is crucial. This image, ostensibly of hotels, reveals anxieties and aspirations embedded in the emerging tourist industry. Think of how the act of framing can be a political one, dictating whose stories get told. Editor: So, it's less about the hotels themselves, and more about what they represented at the time - a controlled and commodified experience for a select audience. Thank you, I will be thinking of how seemingly simple photography has socio-political layers.