Yokohama side street before 1908

This small photograph of a Yokohama side street was captured by Geldolph Adriaan Kessler sometime in the early 20th century. What strikes me is the lack of pretense; the photograph reveals its own process. The beauty here is not about perfection, but something more honest. You can almost smell the dust of the street. Look at the way the light falls, creating these stark contrasts, but also these really subtle gradations in tone. The surface has a sheen to it, but it is interrupted by blemishes. These areas are like little eruptions, or glitches, but they are also part of what makes it beautiful. It reminds me of the photographs of Eugène Atget who was interested in documenting the everyday, and who embraced the accidents and imperfections that come with working in an analogue medium. This piece feels like a conversation across time, an exchange of ideas about how we see and experience the world.