Gezicht op Borwick Hall before 1880

Alex Rivington’s photograph captures a view of Borwick Hall, a manor house laden with history. The image appears to be taken from a collection of photographs. Consider the English country house not just as architecture, but as a symbol of power, class, and gender. These houses were physical manifestations of wealth accumulated through colonial exploitation and the labor of countless unseen workers. Photography at the time was increasingly accessible to the middle classes. Rivington's choice of subject and his artistic framing invites us to consider our relationship with history and heritage. It asks who is invited to partake in the narratives of nation, class, and identity that such houses embody. The careful composition and the ethereal quality of the light evoke a sense of nostalgia, perhaps masking the more complex and troubling aspects of this history.