Brug bij de voormalige Rotterdamse Poort te Delft Possibly 1894 - 1895

Editor: We're looking at "Bridge at the Former Rotterdam Gate in Delft," a gelatin-silver print from around 1894-1895, housed here at the Rijksmuseum. The photograph gives a real sense of stillness despite including elements of infrastructure like the bridge and what appears to be a working windmill. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Formally, I find the composition particularly striking. Note how the photographer has situated the bridge as a strong horizontal element, bisecting the frame, and then offset that with the verticality of the mill and various architectural elements. Do you notice how the bridge operates, not just literally as a passage, but as a device for guiding the eye, forcing you to consider both sides of this divided space? Editor: Yes, it almost feels like two separate images fused together, the architecture and figures on one side, and the… is that a lock house, on the other? Curator: Precisely. And consider the light: the subtle gradations of tone achieved within the gelatin silver print. This enhances the sense of depth and three-dimensionality, whilst simultaneously emphasizing the flat picture plane. How do you see this flatness functioning formally? Editor: I suppose it brings attention back to the photograph as an object, instead of getting lost in the scene it represents. It flattens and abstracts what is representational, heightening the viewers' awareness. Curator: A deft observation. De Louw plays with these formal oppositions, and in so doing, asks us to consider not only the depicted scene, but the very nature of photographic representation itself. Editor: That tension between realism and abstraction definitely enriches the image. I was so focused on the scene, I almost missed those important formal qualities. Curator: It is in examining these very aspects that we may glean deeper value.