Vogel in het veld c. 1900 - 1940

Editor: So, here we have Richard Tepe's "Vogel in het veld," a photograph, made sometime between 1900 and 1940. The image feels very grounded and immediate to me, almost like you’re lying in the grass. What do you see in this piece? Curator: This photograph, beyond its aesthetic appeal, functions as a document embedded within specific cultural narratives. Considering Tepe worked during a period of significant industrialization, what do you make of his choice to focus on an apparently untouched natural scene? Editor: I guess it feels like a deliberate counterpoint, maybe even a form of resistance, to the growing dominance of industry. Curator: Precisely. The pictorialist style employed by Tepe – the soft focus, the almost painterly quality – reinforces this reading. It romanticizes the natural world, presenting it as an escape from the increasingly mechanized modern life. But does this escape truly extend to all individuals within that era? Consider whose voices or bodies are prioritized within a largely romantic, nature-focused view, and whose are silenced? Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way. It's a pretty homogenous view of nature. Maybe it reflects a certain class perspective, someone with the privilege to escape to the countryside? Curator: Exactly. Tepe's work encourages us to question not only what is presented but also what is omitted, asking who has access to, and control over, the narrative of nature. How does thinking about this influence your own feelings about this work now? Editor: It makes me more aware of how images, even seemingly simple landscapes, can be charged with complex social and political meanings. It's a good reminder to look beyond the surface. Curator: Absolutely. Seeing art as a product of its time, deeply entangled with power structures, can reshape our understanding and spark a richer dialogue with it.