Stèle in museum in Sens 1850 - 1900

Adolphe Giraudon made this photograph of a Stèle in a museum in Sens sometime in the late 19th century. It's a straightforward photographic print, likely albumen, which was the standard process at the time. What I find compelling about this image is how it captures the meeting of different modes of production. On one hand, we have the stèle itself, likely a product of skilled stone carving, made for commemorative or decorative purposes. On the other, we have the photograph, a relatively new technology at the time, used to document and disseminate images of objects like this. The photograph flattens the stèle, reducing it to a two-dimensional image. But it also allows us to see the stèle in a new way, to appreciate its form and detail. We see the texture of the stone, the crispness of the carving, and the way the light plays across its surface. This photograph is not just a record of an object, it's an act of interpretation. It reminds us that all images, whether they are carved in stone or captured on film, are made by someone, for a particular purpose. It blurs the distinction between craft and art, and invites us to consider the social and cultural context in which both were produced.