Interieur van de Mezquita van Córdoba 1868 - 1883

This is a photograph of the Mezquita in Córdoba, made by Juan Laurent using the 19th-century albumen print process. The albumen print was a real innovation. It was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a photographic positive from a negative, using egg white to bind the image to the paper. The process involved coating paper with albumen, then sensitizing it with silver nitrate before exposure to light. The resulting prints had a fine, smooth surface with exceptional detail and tonal range. Laurent was a master of this technique, and the print brings an incredible depth and clarity to the architecture of the Mezquita. The albumen printing process brought photography into the realm of mass production, making images more accessible to a wider audience. This had a big impact, democratizing visual culture while creating new markets for photographers like Laurent. It really blurs the line between craft and industry, doesn't it?