Tableau Oppedette 1980

Dieter Appelt made this black and white photograph called "Tableau Oppedette" and the date is unknown. It’s all about texture, that's the first thing I notice. The way the light hits the rock face, it's almost like the stone is breathing, porous and alive. Look at the way the light falls down the centre, bleaching it out to almost nothing. The tonal range is incredible, from deep blacks to delicate greys, creating this powerful contrast. It’s like a conversation, a push and pull between dark and light, rough and smooth. It's this tension that makes the image so compelling. You can almost feel the weight of the stone, the coolness of the cave. It reminds me of the sublime landscapes of Romantic painters like Caspar David Friedrich, but stripped back to its bare bones, a meditation on form, light, and the raw beauty of the natural world. It's about looking, feeling, and connecting with something bigger than yourself.