Fotoreproductie van een tekening van Frithjof en Ingeborg in een boom c. 1872 - 1882

This is a photorealistic reproduction of a drawing, depicting Frithjof and Ingeborg embracing in a tree. It is a reproduction, so we see the drawing not as it was originally made, but through the lens of industrial image-making. The original drawing would have involved decisions about line, composition, and the build-up of tone on paper – labor that is completely elided here. Instead, we have a photographically reproduced copy of the artwork. As a result, the viewer is distanced from the original artwork, instead experiencing a mass-produced object where any evidence of the human hand has been removed. The labor of the original artist is effectively erased, and the focus shifts to the subject matter itself, rather than the artistic skill that brought it into being. It serves as a reminder of how mechanical reproduction changed our relationship to images, prioritizing content and reproducibility over unique skill and material engagement.