Zicht op een dorp vanaf een meer gelegen tegen de achtergrond van een berglandschap 1900 - 1915

Johanna Hermina Marmelstein made this photograph, “View of a village from a lake against the background of a mountain landscape," sometime in the 20th century, using a camera and film. I think about the process of capturing a landscape, which is itself in constant flux. There's the light, the clouds, the seasons, the wind. All are in motion. There's a mountain reflected in a still lake with palm trees along its edge and small buildings peeking out from the foliage. I imagine Marmelstein, positioning her camera, waiting for the right moment when the light and composition align. Maybe she was thinking about what it means to translate a three-dimensional space onto a two-dimensional plane, freezing a moment in time. Her photograph reminds me of the work of other landscape painters, like the Hudson River School. Artists like Thomas Cole, who captured the sublimity of nature. Ultimately, this photograph captures a moment, which is just the beginning of the conversation it sparks. It invites us to contemplate our relationship with nature.