Gezicht de Rue des Tanneurs te Metz before 1894

Editor: So this print, "Gezicht de Rue des Tanneurs te Metz" by Charles Bernhoeft, created before 1894, depicts a cityscape using photography. It's such a still scene. What elements stand out to you the most? Curator: Well, immediately my focus is drawn to the print itself, the materiality of its production. This wasn't a singular act of artistic creation but a complex process. Think about the labour involved in preparing the photographic materials, the precise chemistry, the printing process, the paper stock itself. What were the economic conditions that enabled this image to be created and disseminated? Editor: That's interesting! I hadn't really considered the print's existence as being so...material. So how would the social context shape something like that? Curator: Mass production of photography and printed images was taking off. This photograph captures a specific street, Rue des Tanneurs, which evokes the tanning industry. Tanning was very material, rooted in specific locations and processes and dependent on specific economic flows. What statements might the photograph make? Editor: Hmm. Possibly a statement about progress. The presence of tanning, juxtaposed with the seemingly emerging accessibility of mass image reproduction. That's a pretty cool connection that can be made between the content and context! I didn't even consider all the work it would take. Thanks so much for all of the insight. Curator: My pleasure! Seeing art through the lens of material and labor can open up exciting new avenues of interpretation and awareness.