Gathering wokas - Klamath 1923

This is "Gathering Wokas - Klamath" by Edward Sheriff Curtis. It's an old photograph and right away, I'm drawn to how the artist is seeing. The limited colour palette, all those subtle tones of sepia, it's like a memory, isn't it? Looking closer, the texture is so interesting. The surface of the water is smooth, but the plantlife is much rougher. It almost feels like you could run your fingers across it. I’m wondering what kind of camera he was using. See how that person in the boat is kind of soft and blended? It's like they're part of the landscape. That little boat, surrounded by all those lily pads, is like a figure-ground relationship. It reminds me a little of the Hudson River School painters, like Thomas Cole, because they were also interested in capturing the American landscape. Art is a conversation, a back-and-forth. There’s no right answer, just what you see and feel.