Detail van een Pinus Maritima tegen egale achtergrond c. 1900 - 1940

Richard Tepe made this photograph of a pine branch with what looks like a glass plate negative. The whole thing sits on a creamy grey background, not unlike a cloudy day. I love the way the needles reach out, almost like he’s capturing a fleeting moment. I wonder if he was trying to capture something essential about the way light filters through the branches? Or maybe he was just in love with the textures, the way the needles catch the light and the rough bark that anchors the whole thing. There’s a kind of honesty in the way it’s presented, a sense of just looking, of letting the thing be what it is. It's like Tepe is saying, "Here it is, this branch, this light, this moment." Photographers and painters have been looking at the same things for centuries, each finding new ways to show us how they see the world. It makes you wonder what the next generation will bring.