Ruïne (vermoedelijk) nabij Bad Kreuznach c. 1860 - 1870

This stereo card titled 'Ruïne (vermoedelijk) nabij Bad Kreuznach' (Ruins (presumably) near Bad Kreuznach) was captured by Carl Heinrich Jacobi, an artist born in 1824. The photograph presents a landscape featuring a ruined structure, with figures populating the foreground. In the mid-19th century, as photography gained traction, it served not just as a tool for documentation, but also as a means of constructing and disseminating cultural narratives. Jacobi, working in this burgeoning medium, invites us to consider the intersection of nature, history, and human presence. The ruins themselves evoke a sense of time and historical narrative, but who gets to tell that history? The figures in the landscape suggest an element of human interaction with the past, but their identities and stories remain obscure. Ultimately, Jacobi's photograph invites us to reflect on the ways in which we engage with history and the stories that get told, while also acknowledging those that remain untold.