Gezicht op het meer van Changu en omliggende bergen 1906

Curator: This is a photograph titled "Gezicht op het meer van Changu en omliggende bergen" taken in 1906 by D.T. Dalton. It currently resides here at the Rijksmuseum. It’s an albumen print of a high-altitude lake in, I believe, Sikkim. Editor: Wow, the stillness of the water mirroring the mountains...it evokes a deep sense of tranquility, almost like stepping into a silent film. The tonality creates such a soothing sensation. I feel...restored just looking at it. Curator: Restored is interesting, given the material reality. Albumen prints involved coating paper with egg whites before adding the photographic emulsion. Consider the scale of producing this kind of image and its social purpose: expeditions, colonial documentation... There's a cost embedded in that beautiful stillness. Editor: I suppose, yes. I am captivated by the quiet artistry though. Did Dalton have any particular goal? Was this simply documentation or... Curator: Dalton was part of a wave of photographers, often amateurs, documenting the world at the turn of the century. There’s a sense of capturing the sublime, sure, the vastness of nature…but through the lens of empire. Consider who would have consumed these images and how it reinforced certain power structures. The labor involved from creating albumen, processing film on location, etc… are all relevant. Editor: True, there’s that inherent tension isn't there? It reminds me of travelogues… are you selling the experience, educating about different people, or establishing a presence by recording it like some type of manifest? Curator: Exactly! What materials did they bring, who were their suppliers? These factors create our experience and influence our interpretation, wouldn’t you say? Editor: Certainly it adds to our reading of the piece. But, I still find something timeless here despite it being connected with production value and social circumstance. Thank you. It is the mood I still come back to! Curator: Absolutely. It gives the landscape this delicate, otherworldly character, one that perhaps belies its complex origins. A perfect tension to end on.