Versailles, Bassin de Neptune 1902

This is a gelatin silver print of Versailles’ Bassin de Neptune, captured by Eugène Atget. I wonder what it was like for Atget, lugging his equipment around pre-war Paris, pointing his lens at all the nooks and crannies of the city and its outskirts. This photograph is so interesting because it's not only a capture of a place but also a study of light and shadow. The way the light catches the sculptures, creating these soft gradations, speaks to the subtleties of perception. I imagine him carefully composing each shot, waiting for the right moment when the light reveals the hidden poetry of the scene. It is a dance between the architecture, the water, and the fleeting passage of time. I suppose that Atget’s work makes us see the world with fresh eyes. And isn’t that what art should do?