Gezicht op de ruïne, vermoedelijk in Mesa Verde National Park before 1893

Editor: Here we have Gustaf Nordenskiöld's "View of a Ruin, Presumably in Mesa Verde National Park," likely taken before 1893. It's an albumen print. I’m struck by the way the ruin seems to emerge organically from the landscape. What do you see in this piece, looking at it from your perspective? Curator: What immediately grabs me is the tension between nature and human labor, literally captured in the photographic process. We have the naturally-occurring geological formations—the canyon, the rock on which the structure sits—juxtaposed with the constructed ruin. Think about the human effort involved in quarrying, transporting, and shaping the stone. What were the methods of extraction available at this time to the indigenous people of Mesa Verde? How does considering the social implications of the production of this landscape re-orient your view? Editor: That’s a fascinating point. I hadn't considered the sheer labor involved in creating the ruin, especially set against the vastness of the natural landscape. Is Nordenskiöld perhaps also making a statement about time and labor with the medium? The labor required to take the picture compared to that involved with building the structure? Curator: Absolutely! Photography, itself a product of specific materials and processes, freezes a moment, but the image displays an extended period of creation—both the building and the erosion caused by centuries of use and eventual decay. The print calls attention to the means of production required to build both landscape, artifact, and the artwork we behold today. We consume this image now, perhaps not thinking of the hands involved in its making, or the lives that created what this landscape documents. Editor: I never thought about that connection, but now I can't unsee the echoes between the construction of the ruin and the construction of the photograph itself. Curator: Exactly. Looking at art through the lens of materials and labor reveals so much about the intersection of culture, history, and the act of creation. Editor: It definitely gives me a new way to approach landscape photography! Thanks for the insights.