Tombeau Imaginaire 26 2019

Elina Brotherus made this photograph, Tombeau Imaginaire 26, searching for a way to translate the feeling of awe into an image. Look at how she’s placed her figure, small against the grandeur of the landscape. I can imagine her setting up the camera, adjusting the focus, maybe waiting for the right cloud to drift into position. As a painter, I often think about the performative aspect of artmaking. Standing on that rock, she’s not just recording a scene; she’s enacting a kind of meditation, a visual poem about being in the world. The muted palette and soft light add to the sense of quiet contemplation, like a Rothko painting distilled into a photograph. It reminds me of other artists who’ve explored similar themes – Caspar David Friedrich, maybe. We see each other’s work and think, yes, I feel that too. Art is a conversation across time, a way of sharing our inner weather with each other.