Spierkruid in bloei c. 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe created "Spierkruid in bloei," or Meadowsweet in Bloom, using gelatin silver print. I'm struck by the subtle sepia tones and the diffuse light—it’s as though the flowers themselves are emitting a soft glow, each blossom a delicate stroke of light. Imagine Tepe, working in a darkened room, coaxing this image into being, patiently waiting for the forms to emerge from the chemical bath. It’s a quiet, almost meditative act, a world away from our instantaneous digital snapshots. The arrangement fills the frame, yet there’s a sense of airiness, of lightness, that keeps it from feeling heavy or static. The cascading blooms remind me of some of Gerhard Richter's blurred candle paintings, where the subject seems to dissolve before your eyes. Tepe, like Richter, captures a fleeting moment, a fragile beauty that seems to hover between presence and absence. It reminds us that artists are always in conversation, across time, medium, and place.