Proefvaart 1953

This anonymous photograph, of unknown date, titled 'Proefvaart', meaning 'trial run' in Dutch, gives us a glimpse into the past. What strikes me is the texture of the water, rendered in shades of grey, like a memory fading at the edges. The figures in the boat are blurred, almost like ghosts, suggesting the passage of time. I think a lot about this kind of surface in my paintings. The way marks can suggest motion and stillness at the same time. Look at the ripples behind the boat. See how they catch the light? It’s a fleeting moment, captured and held still. The photograph is a reminder that art can be found in the everyday, in the simple act of observing the world around us. It makes me think of Atget, doesn't it? That chronicler of a lost Paris, who understood that photography is a collaboration between the artist and the world. What are the possibilities of the medium, what can be fixed, what will drift?