Vlucht zee-zwaluwen c. 1870 - 1940

Editor: This photograph, entitled "Flight of Sandwich Terns," is a gelatin silver print by Adolphe Burdet, dating sometime between 1870 and 1940. It's quite striking, almost overwhelming in its density. What structural elements define its impact, in your opinion? Curator: Indeed. Focusing on formal aspects, observe how the gelatin silver print is split into two nearly identical panels, and notice how Burdet has arranged these countless dark shapes of the birds against a light backdrop. This contrast isn't simply representational, but formal. It generates rhythm via the alternation of positive and negative space. The undulating horizon provides further division, emphasizing the sheer number of forms both earthbound and airborne. Editor: The repetition of the bird shapes creates a sense of movement, a very restless feeling. Is that repetition just a function of the medium itself? Curator: I don't believe that the materiality explains everything, but the reproducibility of photography undoubtedly reinforces the emphasis on quantity. Moreover, the restriction to grayscale minimizes the details of each individual bird, enhancing the pattern across the composition. Have you also noticed the almost arbitrary cropping of the birds on the periphery? This formal choice makes one think of how a landscape functions in a different sense from the actual experience of open spaces. Editor: That's a great point about cropping the peripheries and how the photograph affects spatial perception, a removal from realism while documenting a realistic scene. Thank you for that insight! Curator: It's through precisely these formal qualities – the dark versus light contrast, rhythm and repetition, the limited palette – that the photograph's unique expression is revealed. A good lesson in form informing our interpretation of content.