Fotoreproductie van een foto door Hans Watzek, voorstellend een stadsgezicht aan het water before 1907

This black and white photograph, perhaps from the early 20th century, captures a cityscape reflected in water. Imagine the photographer, Hans Watzek, carefully composing the shot, waiting for the light to be just right, like a painter layering glazes. I wonder what Watzek was thinking as he captured this scene. Was he trying to freeze a moment in time? Or was he trying to show the world how he saw it? The texture of the buildings against the reflections in the water reminds me of Gerhard Richter's blurred paintings - an interest in realism, but distorted through a layer of memory and feeling. Maybe Watzek knew that photography could be more than just documentation, that it could be a way to express oneself, to create something new and beautiful. Like all artists, Watzek was probably in conversation with the art of his time. He was no doubt inspired by others, and in turn, he inspired those who came after him.