Gezicht op een straat te Llandudno, met op de voorgrond een paardenkoets c. 1850 - 1880

Editor: So, this gelatin-silver print, likely made sometime between 1850 and 1880, captures a "View of a street in Llandudno, with a horse-drawn carriage in the foreground," by Francis Bedford. There’s something so still and orderly about this cityscape… it's a bit like stepping back in time, but what details really make it come alive, in your opinion? Curator: Alive? It's more like being invited into a memory, isn't it? Bedford has gifted us not just a photograph, but a portal. Notice how the light glances off the buildings; each window almost a separate, silent story. It makes you wonder, what were people dreaming of behind those facades? What do *you* imagine they were doing? Editor: I suppose they would be doing everyday things, maybe not so different from us in some ways! But the carriage, and the formality of the architecture, creates a real sense of social hierarchy that's different. Is Bedford commenting on that, do you think? Curator: Maybe he's reflecting it. The artist is a mirror reflecting the world of the time. The buildings, like individuals, all in a line yet subtly distinct. Think of it – a moment caught in time, rendered with light and shadow, an ordinary street imbued with an air of gentle mystery. Isn't that a magic trick in itself? What kind of world did that mirror reflect for him? Editor: Definitely magical to think about! I think I am getting better at looking for the mirror’s reflection of culture, and seeing with a photographer's eye. Curator: And that, my friend, is where the true art resides - in learning to truly *see*.