Silfrastadir kirke på Island 1850

Emanuel Larsen created this etching of Silfrastadir Church in Iceland sometime in the mid-19th century. Etching is an intaglio printmaking technique that uses acid to corrode the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design. The plate is then inked and the ink transferred to paper through a printing press. In this case, the economical nature of the process is quite pertinent. Etchings like this one were relatively inexpensive to produce, and could be widely circulated. It allowed people to see a place like Iceland without having to travel there themselves. This image speaks to the rise of both tourism and global capitalism, as people began to develop an interest in seeing more of the world, and the world was brought to them through images like this one. Ultimately, prints like this helped to flatten the world through simple, repeatable techniques.