Matrozen roeien naar hun schip 1904

This photograph, "Matrozen roeien naar hun schip", whose maker is unknown, captures a group of sailors rowing towards their ship. I can imagine the photographer, out on the water too, bobbing about and waiting for the right moment. The composition shows us a receding view of three boats afloat on calm water. It makes me wonder if the photographer was on one of the boats and if they knew the sailors. What was it like for them to navigate their way through the water in the wake of these boats? The use of light in the photograph is quite subdued; perhaps it was an overcast day, which adds a sense of introspection to the scene. It makes me wonder what it might have been like to be there; what feelings did the photographer experience at that time? Artists are always having conversations with each other, across time. Each work extends the possibility of the next.