Gezicht op Berlijn vanuit het Berliner Stadtschloss, gezien naar Unter den Linden en de Schlossbrücke 1868 - 1870

Curator: This photo, taken between 1868 and 1870 by Johann Friedrich Stiehm, gives us "A View of Berlin from the Berliner Stadtschloss," looking towards Unter den Linden and the Schlossbrücke. Editor: It's incredibly detailed for an early photograph; you can almost smell the damp stone and feel the chill coming off the Spree! Curator: Absolutely, the tonal range Stiehm achieves in this print is remarkable. Note how the architecture almost seems to dissolve into the atmospheric haze. Editor: The artist skillfully employed photographic techniques to capture a wide depth of field. The semiotics here communicate the burgeoning importance of the metropolis. Observe how each architectural feature, from the Schloss to the distant buildings along Unter den Linden, serves as a signifier of the burgeoning German capital. Curator: It is rather breathtaking, this frozen moment of a city in transition. The light and shadows...I mean, it's not just documentary; there's real artistic intent. Do you feel that, that the photographer wanted us to consider Berlin as not only just a site of progress but a lived space for a generation that was on the brink of modernity? Editor: Without a doubt, the composition supports that feeling. It’s almost Romantic in its evocation of a sublime, if urban, landscape. But look at the balance of the receding lines converging towards the Schlossbrücke, a marvel of neoclassical design. Each line seems to imply a future path for the metropolis, an implied perspective as the viewer navigates the avenues leading to an enlightened, unified future. Curator: A narrative woven right into the image, that is something, no? Looking closely at its genre, for instance, it can only barely fall within a certain kind of landscape, because you start feeling as though you, the viewer, have to be involved in completing a vision for yourself when viewing this photograph. Stiehm truly does transport you into his reality! Editor: This stereoscopic image achieves more than documentation; it transcends time and truly encapsulates the zeitgeist. Curator: Right! An enduring glimpse into a bygone Berlin, seen anew.