Palmenlaan bij het Château van Nice c. 1870 - 1900

This photograph, Palmenlaan bij het Château van Nice, was made by Neurdein Frères using the 19th-century technique of albumen silver printing. What I find fascinating here is the way photography intertwines with social class and aspiration. The albumen print, developed in 1847, was the first commercially exploited method of producing a photographic print on paper from a glass negative. The process involved coating paper with albumen, the white of an egg, making it sensitive to light. The resulting image, as we see here, has a distinctive warm tone and fine detail, a mark of the medium's particular qualities. The image would have required great skill and labor to produce. The photograph presents a serene view of a palm-lined avenue, a symbol of leisure and exotic travel, which catered to the desires of a burgeoning middle class eager to display their cultural sophistication. The making of the photograph becomes an important part of the story, reflecting both the technology of the era and the social context in which it was created.