Boot op open water before 1899

Curator: Ah, here we have P. Fraenkel's "Boot op open water," dating to before 1899. It's a gelatin silver print, belonging to the Pictorialist style. What does it whisper to you? Editor: Well, initially it feels like a quiet resistance against industrial progress. The tonality gives me an overwhelming feeling of calmness despite the inherent grayscale, it seems. Curator: Calm is a perfect word. Fraenkel, along with his Pictorialist contemporaries, were intensely interested in elevating photography to the status of fine art. You can sense their rebellion against straight photography, and against the mass production of images that was rapidly evolving around them, just as you sensed the opposition against the industrial advancement. Editor: Precisely, I find myself drawn into the manipulation of the materials. The use of the gelatin silver print to obtain these dreamy images required skill in darkroom practices that are as essential to understand as any brushstroke on canvas. Did Fraenkel create these atmospheric effects entirely through the photographic process, or might he have layered on other techniques in the darkroom? Curator: It’s a very good question, because Fraenkel was known for embracing manual interventions that were akin to etching or painting in photography. Editor: It's so interesting to reflect on this. The image of the small boat, so modestly scaled against this grandiose water and sky, can't have been the result of just merely pointing and shooting, to rephrase something that I think everyone understands about Pictorialism. He crafted this vista through time consuming and repetitive mechanical production and I wonder what's the message here. Curator: Perhaps the boat symbolizes the individual's journey, dwarfed but undeterred by the vastness of existence itself. Or perhaps he just sought to capture the ethereal beauty of light and shadow on the water's surface. Editor: Either way, it is certainly an intriguing demonstration of craft in this moment of transition. Thanks to Fraenkel’s meticulous approach, this seemingly simple photograph shows us something deep. Curator: Indeed, the blend of technical mastery and artistic vision renders a landscape far more emotionally charged than any postcard view.