Microscopische opname van natriumchloride, zestig keer vergroot 1887 - 1888

Curator: What an odd little gem! At first glance, I see this grainy orb surrounding an oddly compelling, almost architectural structure. It's like peering into some microscopic cityscape. Editor: Well, you’re not far off in sensing its diminutive scale. This gelatin silver print, made sometime between 1887 and 1888 by Marinus Pieter Filbri, presents a sixty-times magnified microscopic view of sodium chloride—table salt. Curator: Fascinating. Immediately I'm thinking about colonial histories, about how salt, seemingly mundane, has driven entire economies and brutal systems of labor. Salt as a source of power and control. Editor: Exactly! Think about its role in preserving food, enabling long sea voyages, and shaping trade routes. This image, a technological marvel of its time, invites us to reflect on how materials shape societies. What looks like a mineral is not exempt from being part of networks of class, capital, and production. Curator: And consider the artistic choice to capture it. It’s not merely a scientific document; there’s an aesthetic decision to frame it, to present it as something…beautiful. It transcends objective representation. Editor: I agree. The contrast between the defined crystalline structure and the surrounding grainy field enhances our understanding of matter itself. Each print had to be made with skilled, precise hands, of course, drawing attention to how a technology relies on often-unseen labor. Curator: Thinking about the labor of creating this gelatin silver print and the labor in salt mines—often unseen, underpaid, and historically marginalized… It is a potent reminder that seemingly disparate aspects of society are deeply interconnected. Editor: Definitely, it challenges this false hierarchy we create separating fine art from craft and also sheds light on often exploitive industry. Curator: Well, I think I'll never look at salt the same way again. This simple object unveils such layers of social complexity. Editor: Indeed. Filbri’s image reveals that there is extraordinary beauty, depth, and even a latent social history embedded in the stuff we take for granted.