Huis in ondergelopen buitenwijk van Parijs gezien door kale bomen 1910 - 1911

G. Dangereux’s photograph captures a flooded suburb of Paris through bare trees. I imagine this photo coming into being as Dangereux noticed this strange and surreal event. The scene is imbued with a quiet tension. You get the sense of an artist trying to capture a moment, one that is about to be lost. It is a moment of uncertainty. The water reflects the buildings and sky, creating a hazy, almost dreamlike effect. The bare trees in the foreground frame the scene, their skeletal branches adding to the somber mood. I wonder if Dangereux was thinking about the fleeting nature of life and time, and how our sense of place can be so fragile. In painting, we talk about layers of meaning, building up the surface with marks and gestures. Here, the layers are literal – earth, water, architecture, sky. This photograph is an exchange of ideas across time, inspiring my creativity as a painter. Artists look at the world and respond. They embrace ambiguity. They suggest multiple readings.