Gezicht op het Forum Romanum te Rome c. 1875 - 1900

Editor: This is “Gezicht op het Forum Romanum te Rome” by Gustave Eugène Chauffourier, likely made between 1875 and 1900. It seems to be a hand-printed image on aged paper. The sepia tones create this sense of faded grandeur... What can you tell me about it? Curator: I notice immediately the tangible quality of the print. Look at the homemade paper, the irregularities. This isn't mass-produced. Think about the labor involved in creating photographic prints at this time, the processes, the materials... It emphasizes the transformation of a modern commodity into what may have been a precious personal artifact. What do you think about the choice of subject given these methods? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess I see the Forum as this incredibly important historical place, so I didn't really make a connection to the means of its production as an image. Are you saying the *making* of the image impacts the way we understand the *thing* it depicts? Curator: Exactly! The Forum Romanum was experiencing a resurgence of popular interest, in part, due to archaeological excavations and this coincides with the rising popularity of photography. These technologies would have expanded how consumers learned about places. What story does that tell you? Editor: The materiality really reframes how I look at photography from this period. It isn’t just documentation; it’s a manufactured object imbued with a very specific social meaning related to both place and craft. Curator: Precisely. We're reminded that this “view” isn’t objective or neutral. It is an outcome shaped by specific material choices and artistic labor. Editor: That is a much more critical way to view these types of historical documents! Curator: I hope our listeners are inspired to also look critically at an image's production process, as it really affects what it can mean to them.