Gezicht op het Groothoofd en de Groothoofdspoort in Dordrecht met op de voorgrond een roeiboot c. 1900 - 1910

This photograph of the Groothoofd in Dordrecht, was captured by G. Hidderley, using what seems to be a monochrome printing process. It’s the kind of tonal palette that makes you think about how much information we glean from color, and what it means to work without it. The surface has a kind of grainy texture to it, like a charcoal drawing, and even though it's a photograph, it's hard not to think about it in terms of mark-making. Look at the way the water is rendered, a kind of shimmering, rippling effect. It makes me wonder if this was a long exposure, or what kind of filtering might have been used. I'm drawn to the dog in the boat, the only figure that stands out clearly, with its crisp silhouette, adding a touch of narrative intrigue to the scene. It is a piece that feels connected to the work of artists like Atget, who found poetry in the everyday urban landscape, and it reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation.