Katholieke processie te Kevelaer c. 1907 - 1915

Hubert Koch captured this Catholic procession in Kevelaer with a camera, at an unknown date. It makes me think about Gerhard Richter's blurred photographs turned into paintings and how the choice of representation is always significant. Koch has created a portrait of figures caught in motion. I can only imagine what it must have been like to photograph these people. Maybe the conditions weren't perfect. Maybe it was a fleeting moment. A decisive one, as Cartier-Bresson would say! What was it like to capture such a sight at the time? I bet Hubert Koch wasn't thinking about that, though. He was just doing it. This piece feels like an exercise in mark-making through light, shadow, and composition, one element playing off another in subtle harmony. It's a reminder that photography, like painting, is about pushing boundaries and embracing the unexpected. After all, we're all just trying to figure things out as we go along, one photograph at a time.