Winterwandeling Possibly 1934

Editor: This is "Winterwandeling," or "Winter Walk," likely from 1934. It's a gelatin silver print by familie Wachenheimer. I'm struck by how ordinary it feels, a snapshot of a winter scene, but somehow the gelatin silver print elevates it. What are your thoughts? Curator: The gelatin silver print is key, isn’t it? It's not just about recording a scene; it’s about a specific chemical process, a method developed and then, industrially produced, making photography accessible to a wider public. What does this wider accessibility change about what photography could be, or could depict? Editor: That's a great question. So, the shift towards accessible materials and production…did it democratize the art world? Curator: In a sense, yes. The industrial production of photographic materials also transformed photography from a primarily professional occupation into a consumer commodity that many could acquire and use. And what of the choice to represent such an ordinary activity: a winter walk? Is there a social comment being made about leisure and the everyday? Editor: I hadn't considered that angle. The 'everydayness' is interesting alongside its being owned by "familie Wachenheimer" Curator: Exactly. And do we know how and where "familie Wachenheimer" consumed this image, in what setting, as a way of constructing social identity, archiving precious moments, remembering other relatives...? Editor: That makes me realize, thinking about the material, that the labor isn’t just the photographer's. It is also about how people circulate images of themselves and what that work signifies. Thank you. Curator: And thank you. Focusing on the material processes has opened a way to see this work.