SMY Hohenzollern II te water c. 1893 - 1917

This photograph, ‘SMY Hohenzollern II te water’ by Symonds & Co, captures a moment with light and shadow. The grey tones, almost like a faded memory, give the ship a ghostly presence. Look at the surface of the water; it's not just a flat plane but a dynamic play of light, almost like loosely applied brushstrokes. The ship itself, with all its tiny figures lined up, seems to float between the real and the imagined. The eye is drawn to the patterns of the windows and railings on the ship. Each tiny shape adds to the complexity of the scene, creating a visual rhythm that is both pleasing and slightly disorienting. It reminds me a little of some of Gerhard Richter’s blurred paintings, where the subject is present but also somehow out of reach. It's about capturing a feeling, a mood, rather than a perfect representation. Art is just that, it's a conversation across time, a back-and-forth of ideas and impressions.