View from the Battery 1908

Geldolph Adriaan Kessler captured this gelatin silver print, "View from the Battery," and what strikes me first is how history is layered. I imagine Kessler setting up his camera, feeling the weight of the equipment and his own place within the moment. What was Kessler thinking as he framed this view? Did he want to record the buildings or catch a sense of the city's expansion into the hills? Look at the darkroom magic Kessler performed: the contrast, the delicate balance between light and shadow. It's a dance, a back-and-forth, much like a painter coaxing an image into existence. Each choice, each adjustment of light, reveals something new. I can see connections to the work of other photographers who were also experimenting with form, documenting the world while finding something new to say about it. I see how Kessler contributes to an ongoing conversation about how we represent the world.