Gezin voor een houtoven op een erf 1898

This photogravure by Hermann Schreiber depicts a family gathered around an outdoor oven. While undated, its style aligns with late 19th-century German photography. The image offers a glimpse into rural life, likely in Germany, where the self-sufficient family was still the cornerstone of society. Consider the social implications of this representation. The family appears to be engaged in communal labor, suggesting traditional roles and hierarchies. The presence of a wood-fired oven speaks to a time before widespread industrialization and reliance on modern technology, therefore Schreiber perhaps romanticizes a past way of life. To fully understand this image, it should be viewed within the context of the burgeoning photography institutions of the late 19th century in Germany, when photography was employed as a documentary project. By studying the photographic journals of the time, as well as the social history of rural Germany, we can better understand the social conditions that shaped artistic production.