Gezicht op een gebouw in neoclassicistische bouwstijl 1862 - 1870

Editor: This albumen print, titled "Gezicht op een gebouw in neoclassicistische bouwstijl" or "View of a Building in Neoclassical Style," by Jan Wendel Gerstenhauer Zimmerman, was created sometime between 1862 and 1870. There’s something so compelling about the crisp details rendered through this photographic process. I wonder, what catches your eye about this piece? Curator: I'm fascinated by how the albumen process itself shapes our understanding of this building. Albumen, derived from egg whites, was a crucial ingredient, directly implicating the domestic sphere in the making of this grand architectural image. How does this "kitchen craft" contrast with the monumentality it depicts? Editor: That's an interesting angle. So the value is not only in the photograph itself but in thinking about where its material components come from and what that tells us? Curator: Precisely! The act of turning eggs, a mundane, everyday item, into the means of capturing and preserving an image of neoclassical architecture reveals the material conditions that allowed such documentation and dissemination of architectural ideals to occur. Moreover, the very choice of neoclassicism, evoking ancient Rome, hints at the aspiration of those constructing and consuming this image. Editor: So, considering this in relation to its materials and what was being represented can lead us to explore deeper connections about labor, class, and the values held at the time of its making. Thank you; I will never look at an old photo the same way again! Curator: Indeed. Thinking about art through its materials helps reveal the economic and social frameworks of its production and consumption. Now you've got me thinking more about that.