Kloostergang in de abdij van Montmajour nabij Arles 1864

Editor: Here we have Édouard Baldus's "Kloostergang in de abdij van Montmajour nabij Arles," taken in 1864. It’s an albumen print depicting the arcaded cloister of an abbey. I'm immediately struck by the repetition and the way the light emphasizes the textures of the stone. What grabs your attention about this image? Curator: The fascinating thing here is the albumen print itself. We need to consider the entire industrial and social apparatus necessary to produce this image: the mining of silver for the photographic emulsion, the cultivation of eggs for the albumen used to coat the paper, the labor involved in constructing and maintaining the abbey, and, of course, Baldus’s own labor. How does this network of materials and labor shape our understanding of the cloister itself? Editor: That's a lot to unpack! I was so focused on the architectural aspects, I hadn't fully considered everything that went into the photo's creation. So, it’s not just about what's depicted, but also about how the image itself came into being? Curator: Exactly. The photograph is both a document of a space and a product of its time. Look closely: the shadows, the light playing on the stone. This isn't just a static architectural record. Baldus uses the play of light and shadow to highlight the building's very construction – how it was shaped by human labor. Also, think about the consumption of art at this time: these albumen prints were made to be sold and traded. Who was buying them, and what did they represent to the purchaser? Editor: So the value wasn't purely aesthetic, it was enmeshed in a web of social and economic relationships. What have you learned from your study of it? Curator: Understanding the social and material context, it becomes a much richer and more complex image, it shows us that beauty can come from intense labor and economic activity.