Ordinance Island, St. George's before 1884

Editor: Here we have "Ordinance Island, St. George's," a photograph taken by James H. Stark before 1884. Looking at this old photo, what strikes me is the sense of a place caught between industry and something more timeless – a very picturesque harbor-side view, if you don't think about it too much! What do you see in it? Curator: Ah, yes! I see that dance between industry and nature too, but perhaps in a slightly different rhythm. I'm reminded of old postcards, their romanticism sometimes concealing a complex narrative. What do you think the photographer intended by including, so centrally, what looks like modern, functional machinery, along with, yes, a very beautiful vista? Does it suggest something about Bermuda’s role in a larger world, maybe its shift into modernity, or perhaps a need to assert progress and fortification? Editor: That’s interesting, I hadn’t considered a deliberate assertion of progress! I was just seeing what looked pretty, haha. Curator: Pretty isn’t a bad start! But beauty rarely exists in a vacuum, does it? Think about the historical context: photographs of places like this often circulated, both celebrating their natural charm and, implicitly or explicitly, promoting their strategic or commercial value. In that era, what did such photographs offer viewers in Britain or America, perhaps? Editor: Hmm... Maybe a chance to see a faraway land that they could dream of traveling to or investing in? A way to see the reach of the British Empire and industry? Curator: Precisely! A little window into somewhere else, infused with potential. And for us today, it becomes a window into *that* particular way of seeing. What do you make of that shift? Editor: So it's not just about *what* is in the photograph but *why* it was taken, what it represented back then, and what that means to us now? That gives me a whole new appreciation! Curator: Exactly! Thinking about intent opens so many new interpretive paths and offers richer, broader enjoyment.