Landschap before 1903

Editor: This photograph, "Landschap" by Hugo Erfurth, predates 1903. It's a gelatin silver print, giving it that classic, muted tone. It feels very romantic, almost dreamlike. What strikes you when you look at this landscape? Curator: The immediate impression is the framing, isn’t it? Erfurth presents a seemingly straightforward landscape but filters it through the lens of his time. The hazy quality softens what could be a document of land into a mood. What societal concerns might shape the softening or filtering, so to speak? Editor: You mean how this photo seems more about a feeling than accurately documenting the landscape? Curator: Exactly. Erfurth wasn’t merely pointing a camera. Think about the late 19th century: industrialization was transforming the landscape and anxieties surrounding the loss of nature and tradition were escalating. He and his contemporaries created idealized landscapes as a visual pushback, a statement of yearning. This piece participates in an active discourse by romanticizing the scene. Editor: So, it's not just a pretty picture. It reflects bigger anxieties. The focus is very much on the visual language. I thought photographers strived for pure realism, so they could truly be objective. Curator: Objectivity is always a myth. Think about who's behind the camera, what their intentions are. Even choices like composition and tonality betray the subjectivity of the photographer, regardless of their claims to objectivity. How do elements like the silhouetted trees and soft light affect your emotional response? Do they feel gendered at all? Editor: They do have a softened, feminine quality. This photograph has given me something new to reflect on! Curator: Excellent. The work invites us to rethink the familiar and unearth the silent, and not-so-silent, stories about how we perceive and portray our environment, which continues into the present day.