Boer en boerin aan het werk op het land before 1903

This old photograph by John H. Gear, captures a farmer and his wife working in the fields, probably taken with early photographic equipment. The tonal range is subtle, like a pencil drawing, with soft shading in the sky and the fields. I wonder, what was it like to be this photographer, working outside and documenting everyday life? Maybe he was thinking about the light and the way it hits the landscape, or maybe he was focused on capturing the essence of rural life and the people who lived it. Perhaps he was thinking about how to make something new. The way the figures are rendered, they look as if they are part of the landscape, the same shapes and textures. It’s a reminder that artists are always in conversation with each other across time, inspiring and challenging one another, like a call and response. Artists, like the farmers here, are connected to the land in a deep, fundamental way.