Waterkant in Paramaribo 1925 - 1927

This anonymous photograph, *Waterkant in Paramaribo*, captures a waterside scene, rendered in cool monochrome. I see a kind of record, maybe even a kind of longing. The artist—photographer—might have been trying to catch something elusive, something there in the everyday, like the light dancing on water, or the way the palms frame the scene. Did they work quickly to seize the moment before the light changed? Or patiently observe to capture the essence of the place and time? I bet they knew how to see. Even without the splatters and brushstrokes, the photograph makes me think about the way artists like Catherine Opie or even Gerhard Richter use the camera. Like them, maybe this anonymous photographer was drawn to the quiet corners, to the in-between spaces that reveal themselves slowly. It reminds us that the act of seeing—and recording what we see—is itself a creative gesture.