The big buttonwood, Sunderland before 1890

Curator: This photograph, simply titled "The big buttonwood, Sunderland", comes to us from before 1890 and is rendered as an albumen print. Its anonymous creator, who signs their name only as Henry Brooks, has left us with this fascinating, albeit modest, document. Editor: There's something stark and captivating about the sheer scale presented. This big buttonwood, rendered in monochrome, feels monumental. The light and shadow play across its trunk really underscores a certain rugged monumentality. Curator: It's certainly about scale, isn't it? See how Brooks has included two figures in the foreground? They serve as a visual key, a point of reference. Consider the choices involved: the framing, the perspective chosen to accentuate this overwhelming sense of size. It pushes us to think about the tree's existence not only biologically but as a cultural and community landmark. Editor: Exactly. And I immediately see it in relation to 19th-century ideas around Romanticism, in that the scene really focuses the viewer on the awesome and almost sublime power of nature. Placing figures underneath its spread suggests our insignificance when compared to this age-old specimen. There's a slight uncanniness here too; the men almost look like they have been inserted separately! Curator: Possibly so, or even the very early photographic techniques would bring us this result. The albumen print is fantastic in its contrasts, really helping shape that central point you noted in the grand Buttonwood and the gnarled texture, lending that depth. Let’s not overlook that element of realism too, which also defined the age, and, despite whatever manipulation may have been used in capturing the perfect photo, is central. Editor: You're right, that realism does place it firmly in a period that sought truth in representation. Yet I think it surpasses just simple document. It also operates as a subtle statement. This image, I find, celebrates nature’s tenacity in the face of increasing industrial expansion that defined Sunderland’s history during the late 19th century. Curator: A compelling reading, looking at that context I certainly come round to agreeing. Looking at the tree and not just the light and contrasts certainly shapes one’s viewing too! Editor: Exactly, maybe the true picture can never truly be seen?