Gezicht op een rivier met schepen c. 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe captured "Gezicht op een rivier met schepen" – or "View of a River with Ships" - at an unknown date with gelatin silver print. Isn’t it funny how black and white images seem to make everything look old timey? It’s like the sepia tones create a misty filter that feels nostalgic even if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking at. The water is like a blurry, smoky mirror, almost blending with the sky. The sky itself takes up maybe three quarters of the frame, all these blended tones. There’s something about the way the light catches on the clouds, all these shades, from the brightest white to the deepest gray. This makes me think of Gerhard Richter, who also loved to blur images to explore the limits of photography. Both artists invite you to look beyond the literal image and contemplate the mood of the scene. Art isn’t about knowing, it’s about feeling, thinking, imagining.