Gezicht op de oude stadsmuur te Valkenburg 1908

This gelatin silver print captures the old city wall in Valkenburg. It's undated but feels like an early experiment, a snapshot into history. I like to imagine the photographer on location, framing up this shot, thinking about light and composition. The scene itself is intriguing - old buildings, a touch of nature reclaiming the space, and a simple fence suggesting a boundary. You see the texture of the wall and the wildness of the overgrown foliage. It’s a kind of found composition. Looking at this photograph I am reminded of artists like Eugène Atget who documented the changing urban landscape of Paris, finding beauty in the everyday and overlooked. Like Atget, this photographer gives us a glimpse into a specific time and place. Photography, just like painting, is about capturing a moment and freezing it in time, inviting us to reflect on what we see and how we see it.