Planten bij het meer van Commelles before 1896

Curator: Here we have "Planten bij het meer van Commelles," or "Plants by the lake of Commelles," a gelatin-silver print dating from before 1896, by José Dubouloz. Editor: It’s melancholic, isn’t it? Almost ghostly. The tonal range is so limited. The reflections in the water are beautiful, yet subdued. I’m immediately drawn to the textural qualities - the rough paper it is printed on... Curator: I think that mood definitely resonates from an era of colonial expansion where landscapes became backdrops against which the project of Empire unfolded. The seemingly benign "plants by the lake" can become a meditation on claiming resources, and access for the privileged classes, and their cultural practices. What seems like a quiet scene hides a whole political history. Editor: Yes, and thinking about those gelatin-silver prints and photography generally... We should note that there was huge commercial demand. Silver production and mining meant enormous amounts of labor were mobilized. You needed specialized industries of artisans in photochemistry, for instance. This tranquil lake is born from huge socio-economic factors. Curator: The act of taking a photograph was part of reshaping not just resources, but society in relation to those resources. How do landscapes influence and inform labor conditions or conversely how labor extraction models influence landscapes, becoming objects of both aesthetic contemplation and means for generating capital? It's such an important interplay, always. Editor: Exactly. It shows us the physical and chemical processes embedded within the beauty we often associate with art. It pushes beyond aesthetics to encompass all those historical processes which define not only art production, but also define environmental exploitation. Curator: Understanding such images lets us not only appreciate Dubouloz's composition, but think critically about our own engagement with landscape, representation, and resource extraction now. Editor: Absolutely. It reframes how we value it...beyond just the visual. Thank you for putting it in perspective!