Gezicht op bomen rondom een water before 1909

This photograph by Coppin-Goisse captures trees around water, though when and how exactly are now unknown to us. But you can see the image shifting and emerging through the dark exposure, the slight blur, and the radiant burst of white light. I look at this photo and I sympathize with the artist; I imagine what it might have been like to wander into this place. The material aspect of photography is really present, you know? The image seems to shimmer with texture, despite the monochromatic palette of blue and brown hues. I can just feel that the light is the main event in the image. It is all about the light bursting through the forest canopy. A gesture can communicate feeling and intention and meaning and this image just captures all of those things. Ultimately, artists are in this ongoing conversation, this exchange of ideas across time. This photograph is a reminder that the world is always more complicated, more ambiguous than any one representation can capture. You can think of it as a conversation with other landscape artists across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.