E17 Usui Pass c. 1887

Curator: Before us is a hand-colored albumen print attributed to Adolfo Farsari titled "E17 Usui Pass," housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's a strange stillness to it; almost a sense of being suspended in time. The tones feel muted, but the textures in the foreground are very prominent. Curator: Yes, the hand-coloring likely imbued the image with a sense of idealized timelessness, a common practice to meet Western expectations of exotic lands. The Usui Pass itself held significance as a crucial mountain crossing. Editor: I'm also struck by the contrast between the rough-hewn wooden structures and the more organic, verdant growth along the stream. The very real labor of building those structures is quite tangible. Curator: Perhaps those buildings evoke a memory, a connection to a shared human experience of traversing landscapes and leaving a mark. Editor: So, beyond the symbols, there is a record of what was literally there, crafted and lived in, at a certain moment. Curator: Exactly! This single image encapsulates layers of cultural perception and hard-won material realities. Editor: A moment suspended, indeed.