Standbeeld van groothertog Karel Frederik van Baden in Karlsruhe, Duitsland 1860 - 1865

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, taken between 1860 and 1865 by Hippolyte Jouvin, captures the statue of Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Baden in Karlsruhe, Germany. Editor: There’s an almost haunting stillness to this landscape, despite the rigid neoclassical architecture, no one walking around… and you can almost smell the dampness of the old photograph itself. It feels like time is suspended. Curator: The composition certainly guides the eye directly to the monument, framed against the linear formality of the palace in the background, which embodies the ideals of neoclassicism – order and reason rendered in architectural form. Notice how the artist utilizes stereoscopy to generate a sense of three-dimensionality; the two nearly identical images provide binocular vision. Editor: While that rigid facade is certainly visually compelling, I'm drawn to thinking about the process here. Producing a stereo view photograph such as this necessitated considerable equipment and time-consuming darkroom work, indicative of a burgeoning industrialized visual culture geared toward both memorialization and documentation of civic icons. Think about how workers had to meticulously coat glass plates with chemicals, expose the image, and develop it. The means of production influenced what got produced! Curator: The contrast is precisely what underscores its success; the texture of the sculptural elements plays with light in a calculated way that draws focus. Editor: It is important to remember who is absent: the working population of Karlsruhe whose labor allowed for the creation of such an ornate urban design to even be captured via these novel printing methods in the first place! Curator: True, and one can also imagine this photograph was disseminated to celebrate and perpetuate the power and legacy of the Grand Duke. Editor: A visual assertion through material representation indeed! Curator: Considering the way Jouvin expertly harnesses light and perspective in this print, its power extends beyond mere historical record. Editor: Perhaps... ultimately what strikes me is this glimpse into another time— where photography served as material record and propaganda with remarkable, beautiful clarity.