Gezicht op en vanaf de bovenste verdieping van fort Mex in Alexandrië before 1885

This is a photograph of Fort Mex in Alexandria, printed in a book using a mechanical process. Photography, in its early days, was as much chemistry as art. The precise timing of the exposure, the balance of developing agents, all had a huge impact on the final image. Look closely, and you can see how the light-sensitive materials used have influenced the image. The tonal range is subtle. You can imagine the photographer carefully manipulating the variables to achieve this result. The photograph itself is a product of its time, a moment when the documentary power of the medium was just being understood. But we should also think about the labor involved in producing the book this photograph appears in. The binding, the typesetting, and the printing. The many hands required to make it. Thinking about the processes through which images are produced helps us understand their cultural significance, moving beyond just the image itself.