Nieuwe weg met een brug bij de Ajer Monnes 1903 - 1913

This photograph, Nieuwe weg met een brug bij de Ajer Monnes, was made by an anonymous artist at an unknown date using an unknown process. It feels to me like the artist is searching through the tones of grey and sepia for something, maybe a colour, maybe a secret. The textures are fascinating: the rough, unfinished bank on the left, the tangled foliage on the right, and then the mountains receding into the distance. Look at that bank, that's been cut away, maybe it's the process of road building itself that is the subject of this piece. It’s not just about what's there, but also about what's been taken away. This makes me think of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. Like them, this photographer seems fascinated by the intersection of human intervention and the natural landscape. It's a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation. And that sometimes, the most interesting things are the questions, not the answers.