Reguliersgracht, tijdens een regenbui before 1932

Here are four photographs by Norbert van den Berg capturing a rainy day on the Reguliersgracht. It’s a monochromatic symphony of greys, where the artist seems to have found beauty in the gloom. I can imagine Van den Berg wandering the canal side with his camera, waiting for the perfect moment when the rain softened the edges of the city. I wonder if he was thinking about the other Dutch masters who had painted these same canals? Perhaps he wanted to show the truth of what he saw, not a prettified version for tourists. Look at how the light reflects off the wet pavement, creating a mirror effect that doubles the urban landscape. It makes you feel like you are there, doesn’t it? Photography, like painting, is about capturing a moment, a mood, a feeling, and sharing that with the world. We are all just trying to make sense of things, in our own way.