Gezicht op het Beursplein en Beurspoort in Amsterdam c. 1860 - 1890

Curator: This photograph, entitled "Gezicht op het Beursplein en Beurspoort in Amsterdam," was taken sometime between 1860 and 1890 by Gebr. van R. What immediately strikes you about this older photographic print? Editor: It’s so muted. The palette gives it a real sense of history. The scene is the stock exchange square in Amsterdam, and the daily life pictured, somehow both bustling and also very still. What's your take on it? Curator: Well, looking at this, I’m immediately drawn to the materiality of the image itself. Think about the collodion process likely used. The photographer had to be incredibly skilled not just in composition but in the darkroom techniques – the mixing of chemicals, coating the plates, and timing the exposure just right. This wasn't about simply pointing and shooting; it was about craft and control over the entire production chain. Consider how reliant they were on material conditions. Editor: Absolutely. And this dependence also must have affected which perspectives, and whose narratives, were captured during that period. What social context can you derive from its technical construction? Curator: I agree entirely! And that social layer informs a vital viewpoint on photographic materiality. It's essential to see these old photos as objects that had very different impacts when produced and when revisited. What materials are present in the scene that draw your eye? Editor: I guess it’s those broken windows; a lot of care goes into making glass and setting windows, and this decay speaks to possible turmoil, of shifts in the cityscape, whether via planned or less sanctioned modifications… Is that perspective overly pessimistic? Curator: Not at all. You're thinking critically about how the photographer's labor intersects with the lived realities of the people in that photograph and the viewers afterwards, especially regarding value and labour! Something I can reflect upon more!