Untitled (from the series Still Water (The River Thames, for Example)) 1999

Roni Horn created this photograph of the River Thames, from the series 'Still Water', as an ongoing investigation. Look at how the water’s surface roils and shifts, captured in shades of grey and black. It’s almost like a monochrome painting, where the brushstrokes are currents and eddies. What strikes me about this piece is its textural depth. The water is not smooth or reflective, but rather a dense, almost viscous substance. You can almost feel the chill and the dampness, and imagine the grit of the riverbed. The highlights, where light catches the tips of the waves, are like momentary flares, breaking the surface tension. There's one particular area, just off-center, where the water seems to fold in on itself, creating a dark, swirling vortex. It's mesmerizing, like staring into an abyss. Horn's work shares something with Gerhard Richter's blurred paintings, in its exploration of perception, and how a single image can hold multiple layers of meaning. It’s a reminder that things are never quite as they seem, and that even in stillness, there is constant change.