Gezicht op de Karl Johans gate in Christiania c. 1880 - 1898

Editor: This albumen print, titled "Gezicht op de Karl Johans gate in Christiania" by Knud Knudsen, dates to around 1880-1898. I find the clarity striking for a photograph of this age, it gives such a strong sense of bustling street life. What are your thoughts on this cityscape? Curator: It’s a captivating document. I immediately look at the mode of production itself - the albumen print. Think about the labour involved: creating the emulsion, coating the paper, exposing the image. This wasn't a snapshot; it was a constructed image relying on complex industrial processes. Consider also the subject matter – the Karl Johans gate. It represents the modernizing city and the infrastructure of capital. The horse-drawn trams weren't just transport; they were products of industry, moving both people and, symbolically, commerce. What details stand out to you that might reflect the relationship between materials and society? Editor: The people! They seem carefully posed or perhaps blurred by the exposure time. Their clothing suggests a burgeoning middle class, but are their lives changed for the better by the products and industry visible here? Curator: Precisely! Notice how their attire hints at access to manufactured goods, enabled by the capitalist systems shaping their environment. Also the Grand Hotel in the image is key. It would have consumed vast resources - think of its construction, maintenance, and the provision of luxuries to its patrons. So much of its economic activity rests on consumption! And consider who could afford to engage with this space - its accessibility depended on their economic capital. The photograph therefore functions as both document and also material product circulating within similar socio-economic structures. What's changed about how we consume images of urban spaces today? Editor: I hadn’t considered that. Today, everyone has easy access to such images through digital media, drastically altering production and consumption. Thanks, I am looking at this image in an entirely different light! Curator: Indeed, understanding the materiality helps reveal social structures encoded in this photograph.