Landschap met bomen before 1901

This black and white photograph of a landscape with trees was made by Reginald Craigie at an unknown date. I'm immediately drawn to the way the trees lean into the wind, their branches reaching out like fingers. I can imagine Craigie, bundled up against the cold, carefully composing the shot. Maybe he was thinking about the relationship between light and shadow, or the way the trees seemed to defy gravity as they clung to the hillside. You can see this playing out in the photograph. He has let some light into the composition which contrasts with the deep shade beneath the trees. It makes me wonder what kind of camera he was using, and how much time he spent in the darkroom, coaxing the image to life. I am reminded of the way the American photographer, Alfred Stieglitz, used photography to explore his emotional response to the landscape. Like Stieglitz, Craigie seems to be after something more than just a record of a place. He’s trying to capture a feeling, a mood, a moment in time. It's like he’s whispering to us, inviting us to pause and consider the beauty of the world around us.