Tekenkamer van de burgemeester in het Stadhuis van Manchester 1877

Editor: This gelatin-silver print, titled "Tekenkamer van de burgemeester in het Stadhuis van Manchester" or "Drawing Room of the Mayor in the Manchester Town Hall," created by J. McLeod in 1877, presents an intimate view of a seemingly unoccupied room. I find the repetition of geometric shapes strangely compelling. What sort of symbolism might we unpack here? Curator: It's interesting you focus on the repetition. Let's consider that, along with the emptiness you perceive. The geometric patterning— almost Moorish in its complexity— speaks of order, law, and perhaps, even civic virtue, wouldn't you agree? Think of the weight of representation involved. Whose gaze are we occupying? The public, peering in? Or the absent mayor himself? What feelings does that contrast evoke? Editor: I hadn't considered the Moorish influence, though I see it now! And that contrast… It does feel voyeuristic, perhaps. Almost like we're meant to feel a certain reverence, intruding on this seat of power. But also distance; it's lifeless without the mayor, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Exactly. Notice, too, how the technology of photography is used here to fix a particular moment. The room becomes an artifact itself, a symbol *of* permanence while ironically revealing absence. Does that perhaps connect to cultural anxieties of that moment? Editor: So, it’s about order and law, absence and voyeurism. The symbols carry a dual meaning, reflecting on power and the anxiety around its representation through evolving mediums like photography. I find it quite potent, looking closer! Curator: Precisely. A still life imbued with layered meanings, echoing in both its design and mode of capture. What starts as simple realism, opens into reflections about self and other, now and then. Editor: Thank you. Seeing it that way reshapes my understanding.