Gezicht op de Hofvijver met het binnenhof te Den Haag 1900 - 1921

This photograph of Gezicht op de Hofvijver met het binnenhof te Den Haag, was taken by E. Visser von Weeren, and it’s all about atmosphere. Looking at this image, I’m immediately struck by the way the composition is built on reflections and symmetry, the building mirrored in the still water. But it’s more than just a straightforward copy, right? The reflections are softened, blurred, they're like a dream or a memory. It’s a study in contrasts, sharp architectural details against the fluidity of the water, the dark solidity of the building versus the ghostly trees on the right. And I keep coming back to the surface of that water: in one section, we see the details of the buildings, and in others, just a blur. It feels like the artist is asking us to question the nature of seeing, or maybe the reliability of our own memories. This feels like it could sit comfortably alongside the work of someone like Eugène Atget, who was recording the streets of Paris at a similar time, capturing a sense of a city in flux. Art always feels like it's in conversation with something else.