Huis met een schuur tussen de bomen, op de voorgrond twee kinderen bij een sloot c. 1905 - 1907

This photograph, 'House with a Barn Among Trees, in the Foreground Two Children by a Ditch', was made by Folkert Idzes de Jong. It’s one of those images that feels like a memory. The limited colour palette is subdued, almost monochromatic, lending the scene a timeless quality. The texture is smooth. It invites you to step right in and join those kids by the water. The details aren’t crystal clear, but that’s okay, that adds to its charm. Look at the way the trees frame the house, like a protective embrace. And the children in the foreground, their figures slightly blurred, add a sense of scale and narrative to the scene. You could almost imagine this photograph as a page from a storybook, a snapshot of a simpler time. It reminds me a little of some of Edward Steichen's landscape photography, also so simple. Ultimately, art is all about sparking a feeling, and this photograph does that in spades.