Acht foto's van landhuis De Wilde Zwanen en tuin 1940

Here is an arrangement of eight photographs of De Wilde Zwanen country house and garden, taken around 1940 by Norbert van den Berg. These are gelatin silver prints, a process that dominated photography for much of the 20th century. The gelatin silver process, involving a light-sensitive emulsion on paper, offered relative ease of production, enabling photographs to be made quickly and at scale. This technical advancement democratized image-making, detaching it from the time-intensive, artisanal methods of earlier photographic techniques. Consider the visual qualities: the monochromatic tones and sharp resolution that were characteristic of gelatin silver prints. The way the material captured light and shadow lends these images a documentary, yet artistic quality. Van den Berg’s choice of this medium is telling. It suggests a desire to balance personal artistic expression with the broader social context of photography as a reproducible medium. Understanding both the image and its making enhances our appreciation, and challenges traditional notions of art-making.