Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van twee vrouwen op een landweg door Edvard Bergh before 1878

This photomechanical print, made by Johannes Jaeger after Edvard Bergh, presents a serene Norwegian landscape with two women walking along a rural path. The printmaking process itself is crucial here. Photomechanical reproduction allowed for images to be widely disseminated, democratizing access to art and information. This particular print would have been part of a larger publication, a physical artifact of mass media. The image evokes a sense of quietude and simplicity, and is also carefully composed for an urban audience, romanticizing the rural past as a place of refuge. While Bergh might have had a first-hand knowledge of the locale, the labor involved in production was now primarily of an industrial kind. The image’s value lies not just in its aesthetic qualities, but also in its role as a cultural object. The print reminds us of how modes of production and consumption are deeply intertwined.