Woonhuis met vrouw en kind op het bordes, vermoedelijk in Rusland 1903 - 1904

This photograph, made by Joseph Cheetham, captures a house with a woman and child on the porch, possibly in Russia. The first thing that strikes me is the sepia tone, which gives the image a dreamy, nostalgic feel. The details are incredible, from the intricate latticework on the porch to the texture of the wooden siding. You can almost feel the rough grain of the wood and the delicate touch of the lace curtains in the windows. I keep coming back to the figure of the woman and child, they are so small in relation to the house but so full of life. It reminds me of the way Fairfield Porter used to place figures in his landscapes, dwarfed by their surroundings but still present and vital. I wonder if Cheetham ever saw Porter's work? Maybe there is a conversation happening across time and space, a quiet exchange of ideas about how we see and experience the world.