Militairen voor een bivak 1903 - 1913

This photograph of soldiers at a bivouac has an anonymous maker. We don’t know the exact date or location of the image but its story lingers nevertheless. The way light is handled here, all these sepia tones, it feels accidental but so right. The texture of the earth has a quality similar to the dry brush technique, like you might see in a Gerhard Richter. It’s so unevenly distributed, but that just means it’s free. I keep coming back to the shapes made by the trees, the linear marks going directly upwards as if to meet the edge of the frame. There’s a sense that the maker didn’t quite know how the final image would turn out, embracing the unknown. To me, this image is a reminder of the power of chance. It invites us to appreciate the surprises that emerge when we let go of control. Just like life, right?