Gezicht op Rome vanaf de Pincio before 1907

This photogravure shows us Rome from the Pincio, and was made by Edizione Brogi. What I love about black and white photography, or really anything that limits the colour palette, is how it forces you to see the world in terms of tone, texture, and the gradations of light. Here, the mass of the trees at the top of the frame, dense and dark, presses down on the delicate skyline of the city below. You get a sense of how light is both revealing and obscuring. There's a strange tension between the specificity of the architecture – I think I can make out the dome of St. Peter’s – and the way the city is dissolving into atmosphere. It reminds me of Corot, another artist with a great sense of tone, and of how painting can capture a moment that feels both solid and ephemeral. Ultimately, art is not just about what we see, but how we see it. It’s about opening up the possibilities of perception.