Untitled (house on hillside) c. 1950

This is a black and white photograph by Robert Burian, and it looks like it was taken with a medium format camera. I'm curious about the dark sky behind the house. The whole picture is printed in negative, but what if it were light? What would it look like? Perhaps this is a night scene, and the house sits perched high on a hill, basking in moonlight, with a tree next to it. I imagine Burian waiting patiently for the light to be just right, adjusting his camera settings, and carefully composing the shot. It might be that he was interested in exploring themes of light, darkness, and shadow. It reminds me of other artists who use photography to explore the relationship between architecture and the natural world, for instance, the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. These photographs seem simple, but it is a picture that invites quiet contemplation.