Barbarossatoren van de ruïne van burcht Kyffhausen 1868 - 1890

Editor: Here we have Hermann Selle’s "Barbarossatoren van de ruïne van burcht Kyffhausen," created sometime between 1868 and 1890. It looks like a photograph, perhaps printed. What strikes me is the layering of vegetation obscuring the structures. How do you interpret this work? Curator: I see this image first as a product, one stemming from a specific photographic process and existing within a burgeoning market for such picturesque views of Germany. The materiality of this print—likely an albumen print given the period—points to the elaborate and often toxic labor involved in its creation. Editor: Toxic labor? Curator: Yes, consider the preparation of the photographic plates and the darkroom work; chemicals like silver nitrate were extensively used. This "romantic" ruin is not just an aesthetic subject; its capture involved industrial means, exploited labor and materials extracted from the earth. Do you think Selle, as a "Hof-Photograph," might be implicated in propagating a certain image of German national identity? Editor: So, beyond the pretty landscape, you’re suggesting the image itself becomes a commodity embedded in larger systems of production and meaning, shaping a certain narrative through its distribution and consumption? The romantic ruin as national product. Curator: Precisely. Consider also how photography itself democratized image-making. Did it threaten traditional forms of art-making, or perhaps spur new ones? Editor: I hadn't considered the material implications of its making, it does change how I view it. It seems there's a lot more than just a landscape at play here. Curator: Indeed. Examining the material conditions allows us to unearth a deeper, more complex story beyond the surface of this seemingly straightforward image.