Gezicht op twee naakte mannen bij een rivier before 1902

This photograph of two naked men by a river, by Charles Messaz, was made sometime before 1928. It's printed in a book, and the image itself is a study in contrast. Looking at the stark blacks and whites, it reminds me of the experimental darkroom processes of early photography, where the final image is coaxed into being through light and chemistry. You can see how Messaz allowed the light to burn through in places, creating these halo-like effects around the figures. I'm drawn to the way the rushing water at the base of the image is rendered as a pure white blur, almost abstract. It feels like a painterly gesture, a quick stroke of white across the composition. It’s interesting how a photograph can do this, can mimic the immediacy and expressiveness of a painting. Think of someone like Gerhard Richter, who explored the blurred effects of a moving image in his paintings. To me, both are about the ambiguity and the multiple readings that are possible in art.