Gezicht op restanten van het forum te Pompeï met op de achtergrond de Vesuvius c. 1860 - 1900

Editor: Here we have Giorgio Sommer's "Gezicht op restanten van het forum te Pompeï met op de achtergrond de Vesuvius," a gelatin-silver print from sometime between 1860 and 1900. It's strikingly desolate. The ruins, presented in this stark photographic process, seem very permanent. What stands out to you about this piece? Curator: The medium is crucial here. The gelatin-silver print was a relatively new technology, right? Its capacity for sharp detail allows Sommer to present these ruins not just as romantic relics, but as objects of almost scientific record. How does the rise of mass photography in the 19th century change how places like Pompeii are experienced, commodified, and understood? We have a ruin that becomes immediately reproducible. Editor: That's a great point. The availability of these images, mass production for everyone, allows the rise of travel industries. To have real evidence of past lives spread throughout the world... what about the social aspect? Curator: Precisely. It also brings into focus the labour involved, from Sommer's own work to the miners who extracted the silver, to those whose labour enabled tourism in the first place. Does the documentary feel of the image obscure that human element in any way? The ancient Romans and now these photos; labour is an unspoken undercurrent, isn't it? Editor: It's easy to see the aesthetic and overlook the processes that make it possible, both then and now. I'll have to look at photography in a different light now, literally! Curator: I'm glad you see it this way. Paying attention to those material and social conditions, production, and accessibility shapes everything.