Gezicht op de Elbe met een zeilboot before 1903

This photograph, Gezicht op de Elbe met een zeilboot, was taken by H. Ringel in Hamburg. It captures a sailboat floating on water. I can imagine Ringel, perhaps on the shore, carefully framing the boat against the expanse of the Elbe. The image isn’t about detail but the feeling of being near water, capturing the boat’s movement and the stillness of the sea. It's a calm image. The artist made the conscious decision to only capture the boat and the sea which relates to other artists using the sea as a key component within their practices. You look at this and you immediately think of other artists' images of the sea; like a collective conversation through image making, a shared interest. It is like the sea becomes a metaphor for life and a reminder of the power of nature.