Gezicht op een passage aan de Behrenstrasse in Berlijn, Duitsland before 1877

This photogravure print depicts a view of a passage on Behrenstrasse in Berlin, Germany, and was made by an anonymous artist. Photogravure is a photographic printmaking process, a craft that relies on the interplay of light, chemistry, and skilled labor. This particular print would have begun with a photograph, transferred to a copper plate coated with light-sensitive gelatin tissue. The plate was then etched, with the varying depths of the etch determining the tones in the final print. It's a process demanding patience and precision, not unlike the architectural design it represents. Notice how the photogravure captures the building's imposing facade, the repetitive windows suggesting the modular, capitalist drive of urban development. The print is a product of its time, reflecting both the architectural ambition of Berlin and the sophisticated printing technologies of the era. Considering the materials and processes involved allows us to appreciate not only the image itself, but also the layers of human effort and technological innovation that went into its creation, blurring the lines between documentation, art, and craft.