Werknemers in het tekenbureau van de machinefabriek van Gebroeders Stork & Co before 1894

Editor: This is "Werknemers in het tekenbureau van de machinefabriek van Gebroeders Stork & Co," created before 1894. It’s a fascinating photograph in the Rijksmuseum. The starkness of the scene and the repetitive nature of the workers all lined up at their desks makes me think about the industrial revolution. What's your perspective on this image? Curator: What grabs my attention immediately is the almost mechanical rendering of the workforce itself. We see them, lined up, yes, but consider the very *means* of their production: light, camera, darkroom. This image is both the result of, and a comment on, industrial processes. It raises questions about labor; each worker participating in the literal and figurative construction of the means of production. Editor: That’s interesting. I was so focused on *what* they were producing that I hadn’t considered the labor behind the image itself. So you’re saying the act of photography is itself a part of that industrial process? Curator: Precisely. Think about the photographer’s labor, the material processes involved in developing the photograph, the printing… all reflecting the very system being depicted. And beyond the image itself, consider its dissemination – most likely reproduced in some publication about the Stork factory, becoming another commodity within the system. Where does the ‘art’ reside? Or is it entirely subsumed within the flow of production? Editor: So, rather than seeing this just as a historical snapshot, we should think about how it participates in the same systems it depicts? Curator: Exactly. By understanding the materials, the means of production behind this image, we can see how deeply intertwined art and industry truly were, and continue to be. Editor: This gives me so much to consider; seeing the photo as more than just its subject matter. It really opens up a different way to look at historical images.