Exterieur van de Kathedraal van Lyon c. 1855 - 1860

Curator: Here we have a fascinating photograph, taken sometime between 1855 and 1860. It's a cityscape featuring the exterior of the Cathedral of Lyon. What's your first impression? Editor: A ghostly presence, like peering through time itself. The sepia tones lend this enormous architectural marvel an ethereal, almost melancholic quality. What catches my eye immediately is the sharp delineation that this stereo photography gives, highlighting the sheer mass of stone and its construction. Curator: Absolutely, the materials and methods of production speak volumes here. It is not only a representation of a magnificent cathedral but also a document of early photographic processes, right at the intersection of art, technology and emergent modes of capturing social space. Consider the labor involved—from quarrying the stone to constructing this edifice, and then the painstaking early photographic process. Each stage represents human energy expended. Editor: It’s like gazing at layers of human intention, material existence, and, on some level, even devotional commitment, all compressed onto a fragile piece of photographic paper. Thinking about contemporary parallels, do we capture buildings with the same reverence or scrutiny today, considering how ephemeral or changeable those spaces often are? Curator: It provokes such a line of thought. The photographic image was a disruptive new technology and a rapidly evolving consumer item during the time of its creation, shaping conceptions of cities and monuments, mediating access, even for those who may have never had the opportunity to visit otherwise. It's about consumption and accessibility, it changed who and how society participated with grand structures. Editor: Exactly! There's an unspoken power dynamic that makes me think about control and even collective dreams of humanity through architecture. This humble, mass-produced format then becomes a container for monumental ambition. Thanks for those reflections. Curator: And thank you, that interplay of art, access, ambition makes for quite a stirring image.