Stad (vermoedelijk) in het Midden-Oosten, gezien vanuit de lucht c. 1930 - 1940

This photograph from the Rijksmuseum shows a city, probably in the Middle East, as seen from above. The anonymous photographer—wow, imagine them, up high, maybe in a biplane, wrestling with the camera!—captured the scene in shades of gray, focusing on form, texture, and light. I can almost feel the heat rising from those rooftops and the dust swirling in the streets. There’s something so intimate about this high vantage point. Are we meant to feel detached, or are we invited to observe the intimate lives unfolding below? The repetition of shapes, the way the buildings cluster together, reminds me of Agnes Martin’s grids or maybe even some of the early architectural studies by the Bauhaus artists. It's like a conversation across time and place, an artist responding to what’s come before and adding their own unique voice. Photographs like these invite us to wander, to dream, to imagine stories within stories. They remind us that art isn't just about what we see; it’s about how we see and what we bring to the act of seeing.