Gezicht op de Ionische Zee vanaf Korfoe before 1910

This is Frédéric Boissonnas' "Gezicht op de Ionische Zee vanaf Korfoe," a photograph, presumably taken with a camera and the wet collodian process, from sometime in the early 20th century. What strikes me is its grainy texture, its lack of pretense. Boissonnas isn't trying to trick us with a smooth surface or a slick presentation. The image feels immediate, almost like a snapshot, yet the composition is carefully considered. There’s a dance between light and dark, those tall cypress trees like dark exclamation marks against the softer sea. And that sea! It's a vast expanse, not blue like you might expect, but rendered in shades of gray. You can almost feel the humidity, the slight haze that softens the edges of the distant land. The marks here aren't made with a brush, but with light itself, captured and fixed. It's a reminder that all art-making is a process of translation, of capturing something fleeting and making it stay still. It makes me think of the work of Gustave Le Gray, who also pushed the boundaries of photography, using it to create scenes of startling beauty and emotional depth. Both artists remind us that art isn't about perfection, it's about possibility.