Aanleg van de weg langs een heuvel 1903 - 1913

Editor: This is "Aanleg van de weg langs een heuvel", or "Construction of the road along a hill", a photograph probably taken between 1903 and 1913. What strikes me is the contrast between the rough-hewn hillside and the ordered line of laborers. What's your take on this piece? Curator: It's crucial to understand photography as a material process. Here, we see the raw, almost brutal, act of road construction juxtaposed with the supposedly objective, clean image created through photographic technology. Who owned the camera? Who were these workers? Editor: So you're looking at the labor behind the image, and the social context... Curator: Precisely. We see the land being reshaped, resources extracted, and the physical labor of many individuals involved in this infrastructural project. Consider the source of the materials, the impact on the local ecosystem, and even the photographers potential stake in portraying these workers as willing accomplices. The road signifies development but also the imposition of order, even exploitation. Do you see a parallel between what these workers did with the land and what the photographer did with their images? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, but there's a definite parallel in terms of manipulation. Both reshape the natural world into something "useful", following someone's plan. I find myself reflecting on what "progress" really costs. Curator: Indeed. Understanding the photograph involves excavating the layered material realities, labor practices, and social forces embedded within it. It goes beyond merely seeing a picture to understanding the economic underpinnings of image production and its real-world impacts. Editor: I will consider photographic practices in a totally new light from now on, taking into account how labor and extraction were captured by it!