Panorama van de Wereldtentoonstelling van 1905 in Luik 1905

This photograph of the 1905 World Fair in Liège seems to be a pretty straightforward landscape, but I think it’s doing something more subtle. The photographer uses this monochromatic palette to describe not just the things in front of them, but also the feeling of being there. The way the light reflects off the water, it almost becomes a stage, and the buildings, those pointy towers, like props. It makes me think about how we build these temporary worlds, these fairs, these exhibitions, to show off progress. You can almost smell the industrial revolution and the excitement. And the soft greys, they don’t pin things down. It feels like a memory, not so much about what was there but what it felt like. This reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter’s blurry paintings; they are not about clarity, but about the fuzziness of seeing. Art at its best isn’t about answers, but about lingering in the questions.