Gedeelte van de stadsmuur van Harderwijk 1900 - 1920

This photogravure of a section of the city wall of Harderwijk, was made by an anonymous photographer. The image is about a wall, but it’s really about surfaces. I get a sense of time passing, as if the photographer stopped to regard a small detail of the wall; the way the bricks are set, one on top of the other, or the tufts of foliage that populate the surface. The tonal gradations are so subtle. The buildings in the background are so pale, you could almost miss them altogether. The foliage at the base of the wall is dark and brooding, giving way to the light grey tones of the brickwork. It feels like an exercise in looking. Think of Agnes Martin’s subtle, meditative paintings, or maybe the quiet precision of a Morandi still life. The image invites us to slow down and consider the subtle beauty in the everyday. The way light plays on a surface, and the stories it tells.