Moulins de Montmartre c. 1842 - 1965

Hippolyte Bayard made "Moulins de Montmartre" using photography; one of the earliest forms of image-making we know. It's like a painting, but the marks are made with light and chemistry! I'm so drawn to the granular texture of the image. Look how Bayard captured the scene with so much detail, like the rough edges of the buildings and the distant windmill. You can almost feel the grit and the wind. It reminds me how much I love to play with surfaces in my paintings. There's a particular spot on the hillside where the light catches. This has transformed the earth into a kind of silvery dreamscape. It’s amazing to think of what painters like Corot were doing at this time, finding a tonal beauty in the landscape. Bayard does something similar, but with a machine! It reminds me that art is always a conversation, whether it’s paint or light, we're all just trying to make sense of the world.