Ruïnes van de Villa Adriana te Tivoli before 1907

This photograph of the ruins of Villa Adriana in Tivoli captures a dialogue between what's left and what once was. The monochrome palette simplifies the textures and amplifies the sense of age and decay. It’s a reminder that art making, like time, is a process of addition and subtraction. Look at the wall on the right. The way the light catches the exposed brickwork creates a beautiful, almost fabric-like texture. This is what I call “Material Imagination.” The photo is a flat surface, but our brains build up a three-dimensional landscape. The contrast between the sturdy, almost geometric brickwork and the soft light really gets me. It feels like the artist's way of showing us the many faces of time. There’s a conversation here, too, with photographers like Eugène Atget, who documented a disappearing Paris. Both artists find beauty and meaning in the ephemeral, reminding us that art is always a conversation, never a final word.