Exterieur van Schauspiel Köln te Keulen c. 1860 - 1870

Editor: So, this is a photograph titled "Exterior of Schauspiel Köln in Cologne" dating back to sometime between 1860 and 1870 by Anselm Schmitz. It's a cityscape. There’s something very formal about it, very staged. What catches your eye in this image? Curator: It's a fantastic example of the intersection of industrialization and art. We need to consider the production of photography itself at this time. The collodion process made photographic prints reproducible on a mass scale, which then impacted the art market. Before photography, how would ordinary people have acquired images of architecture, especially of structures outside their own cities? Editor: That's a good point, that I did not consider! I was only focused on the style and the architectural photography, instead of seeing that image-making itself was expanding at this time because of these chemical processes that ordinary people were finally understanding. How was the art market changed by the advent of easily reproduced photos? Curator: Precisely! Think about the labour involved. It is no longer the unique work of a skilled painter or engraver. It involved the photographer, the person preparing the chemicals, and ultimately the person reproducing these images for popular consumption, democratizing access and changing aesthetic taste. Did this devalue craftsmanship? Did it blur the lines between artistic representation and mass production? These are things to ponder, which go way beyond our current concepts of art. Editor: It really pushes you to rethink what "art" meant then versus what it means today. I now understand the need to analyse the method and conditions of creation more closely, because that really opens it up! Thanks. Curator: My pleasure. Remember to look closely at the process itself. You'll always be surprised at what you find.