Gedeelte van de kasteelruïne te Batenburg 1906

Here is a mysterious image, a small silver gelatin print of a castle ruin taken by an anonymous photographer. I imagine them, setting up their camera near the still waters, waiting for the right moment to capture this crumbling architecture. What were they hoping to say? The image has been toned to sepia, and the monochrome palette lends a timeless quality. The texture seems smooth, not overly manipulated, which gives it a documentary feel. I wonder about the relationship between photography and painting; how one can learn from the other. This photograph presents us with a view of form and light, which are things that painters also play with all the time. Both strive to transform the real into the representational, each in its unique way. In both practices, artists make similar considerations of how they are constructing a site of inquiry. How do these forms of image-making offer us different ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world?