Versailles, Fontaine dans la Cour de Marbre 1903

This is a silver printing-out paper print of a fountain in Versailles, made by Eugène Atget at the turn of the 20th Century. I can almost feel Atget, the artist, squinting at the scene, trying to capture the way the light hits that grand, old fountain. What was he thinking as he peered through the lens? Did he worry about the angle, the shadows, the way the water might blur? Did he feel a kinship with the craftsmen who built this folly? I think he was trying to hold on to something, trying to freeze time. Look at the texture he captures, the rough stone against the smooth metal of the fountain. It's not just a picture; it’s a document, a record of a particular moment in time. Think of other photographers, like Walker Evans or Bernd and Hilla Becher, who catalogued the world around them with such care. It's like they're all in conversation, these artists, sharing their way of seeing. They show us that there are so many ways to picture the world, each one a little bit different.