Balkon van een klooster met gebeeldhouwde versieringen in Myingyan c. 1890

Editor: This is “Balcony of a Monastery with Sculptured Decorations in Myingyan,” a photograph from around 1890 by Felice Beato. The incredible detail and ornamentation of the woodwork is what struck me first. How would you interpret this work? Curator: Let's consider this image as a material record of labour and production. Look at the sheer amount of hand carving on display! Who were the artisans? How were they compensated? Were their skills passed down through families or guilds? Editor: That's fascinating; I was just focused on the aesthetic impact. Thinking about it, you don't often consider the actual makers and the system surrounding their craft. Curator: Exactly. Beato's photograph aestheticizes the "exotic," but we can deconstruct that by considering the labor and materiality inherent in the photographed object itself. The very act of building and decorating such a structure implies a complex social hierarchy that funnels resources to religious institutions. What about the economic landscape? Editor: I see what you mean. So, even though it is just a picture, we can infer so much about the economics of the period just from how decorated the balcony is? Curator: Absolutely. The materials themselves - the types of wood, the tools used - each tell a story about trade routes, resource availability, and technological capabilities of the era. Also the image itself becomes an object of trade in a colonial market, with an economy of consumption linked to that transaction. Editor: I had never thought about the photograph as a commodity itself, but that's a good point! Considering all that, I have gained a whole new level of insight into just one image. Curator: Exactly, by looking closely at material traces within this photo, we uncover layers of meaning about work and systems. This will continue to shape your appreciation of all art.