Gezicht op Napels en het Castel Sant'Elmo en het (voormalig) Kartuizerklooster van Sint-Martinus, Italië 1857 - 1914

Curator: Here we have Giorgio Sommer's "View of Naples with the Castel Sant'Elmo and the (former) Carthusian Monastery of St. Martin, Italy," a gelatin-silver print likely made between 1857 and 1914. Editor: My immediate reaction is one of remarkable depth, literally and figuratively. The water mirroring the light sky provides an immense visual pleasure. Curator: Precisely. Note the calculated composition, how Sommer has framed the urban landscape, layering it with the Castel and Monastery presiding over the city as a signifier of power and religious order. It operates within a very specific visual language of idealized cityscapes. Editor: But what is more compelling is thinking about the labor. Look at the dockworkers moving those beams or planks; we see an industry reflected in this moment. Consider the alchemic process required to even produce such a print! Curator: And yet the process almost disappears, doesn’t it? We see a flawlessly rendered scene. Sommer employs a very specific Realist approach. The architectural linearity is superb, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Yes, of course. I only wish it wasn't divorced from the humanity inherent to the location. By stripping out too much grit, it veers toward sanitization, perhaps romanticizing the Italian port city in a way that privileges only certain historical narratives. It also renders invisible the exploitation intrinsic to its production and maintenance, from constructing the harbor to handling these bulky photographic technologies of the period. Curator: Perhaps, but Sommer is focused, in my interpretation, on an articulation of societal order through its aesthetic presentation. The visual stability is what signifies meaning. It presents Naples as a harmonious unit, a formal arrangement rather than an expose on exploitation. Editor: That’s certainly one way to frame it. To me, it feels imperative to pull back and see it as part of a web involving extractive industries. A study in photographic processes and materials is fundamental, and helps expand traditional aesthetic considerations. Curator: An astute point. I still believe there's immense value to be derived in unpacking Sommer's carefully calculated compositional decisions. Editor: And I will think of all the work done so we can see this today!