Gezicht op de Dom te Pisa c. 1865 - 1900

Curator: What a striking image. We're looking at "Gezicht op de Dom te Pisa," or "View of the Cathedral in Pisa," a photographic print dating from around 1865 to 1900. Editor: It feels like a ghost, all soft focus and muted tones. And almost oppressively symmetrical! Gives it an ancient, monolithic sort of quality. Did somebody say "foreboding beauty"? Curator: The artist, Enrico van Lint, certainly captured something timeless. These early photographs were, in a way, exercises in architectural documentation, meant to showcase the glories of Italian heritage. Photography as a tool of nation-building! Editor: Nation-building… hmm. All that stone, striving toward the heavens...but seen through the haze of this archaic photo process, feels almost… romantic and melancholic, don't you think? Curator: I think it speaks to a time when the medium itself was finding its feet, when the promise of perfectly capturing reality was balanced with a deep appreciation for the artfulness inherent in the photographic process itself. It’s about presentation as much as record. Editor: I keep thinking about the people who aren't there. The figures who would give this some scale, some humanity. Their absence makes the buildings seem almost like stage sets, ready for a play that never begins. Curator: Perhaps the photograph is implying the viewers themselves should be those missing persons? The Cathedral dominating this visual field to suggest our insignificance and relationship to institutions? Editor: Or it suggests we are all ghosts now, observing a ghost image, revisiting the scene of somebody else's…travels? Curator: That is a sentiment that the piece evokes. Thinking about this image in relation to today, perhaps van Lint created a piece showcasing both history and time, making his print more pertinent. Editor: Maybe so. But either way, this cathedral certainly casts a long shadow, not only over Pisa, but over time.