Opzichter in veld c. 1900s - 1910s

This photograph, "Opzichter in veld" of a field overseer, lives in the Rijksmuseum collection and its maker is unknown. The way the light falls on the field, almost like a grid, feels like a painting by Agnes Martin, all about subtle tone and texture. Look at the bottom of the image, at the way the furrows in the field are rendered, with their almost sculpted presence. The tonal range is very subtle, almost a monochrome. It's not so much about depicting something, as it is about evoking a feeling. The slight undulations in the land, the way the plants rise and fall, create this sense of movement that draws you into the image. The figure in the field, a small mark on the horizon, is almost incidental. The artist is reminding us that seeing is as much about feeling as it is about knowing. In this sense, this photo reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter's landscapes, a similar sense of blurred beauty and the sublime.