Gezicht op de Royal Courts of Justice aan Strand in Londen 1851 - 1880

This albumen print of the Royal Courts of Justice in London was created by James Valentine, sometime in the late 19th century. The albumen process, dominant at the time, involved coating paper with egg white to create a glossy surface, then using a glass negative to print the image. The inherent qualities of albumen give the photograph its distinctive sepia tone and subtle tonal range, drawing our attention to the architectural details. It's important to remember the labor-intensive process of early photography. Each print required careful preparation, exposure, and development, reflecting a significant investment of time and skill, often by anonymous workers in photographic studios. This image, produced during the height of the British Empire, served not just as a record but also as a commodity, traded and collected. The mass production of such images, thanks to advancements in photographic techniques, democratized access to visual representations of the world, while also embedding them within systems of commerce and consumption.