Domburg in Vogelvlucht 1880 - 1940

Curator: My first thought: dreamy, almost like looking at a memory. The tonality evokes such nostalgia. Editor: Indeed! What we have here is "Domburg in Vogelvlucht," an albumen print crafted sometime between 1880 and 1940 by the Gebroeders van Straaten. The "bird's-eye view" offers a perspective that, even then, had a distinct symbolic resonance, linking perspective to power, knowledge... seeing everything. Curator: Oh, I get that – like, soaring above, detached, maybe a bit godlike in its observation. Yet the details... they ground it, like whispers of everyday life rising from those tiny rooftops. The church spire is especially interesting. Editor: The spire indeed represents an aspiration to heaven but it is also a historical marker of community, and often a focal point. These prints, through Pictorialism, blur photography's documentarian qualities, to almost be a painting, using focus and manipulation to soften and heighten the emotional content, drawing us to archetypal themes, like belonging, perspective and faith, all from this literal high ground. Curator: You know, that’s right, this high ground almost flattens, reducing space, rendering the foreground as important, emotionally, as the background. It's as if the scene is consciously flattened in the print, emphasizing the dreamscape instead. Do you think this evokes stability, or a feeling of impermanence, given that sense of suspension? Editor: A great question, maybe the feeling evoked really lies in the eyes and cultural memory of the viewer. Does that individual come from an insular community and cherish such symbolism of community? Or do they approach such symbolism with skepticism and the notion of a "God-trick," the godlike ability to see without being seen? Curator: It really does make you think. Even now. Well, delving into this 'bird's-eye view' made me feel like I actually got to visit the city... in thought if not in body! Editor: And it gave me further insight into photography, Pictorialism, and our continued need for symbolism to better contextualize our emotional place in the physical world.