Zeilboten in de haven van Whitby bij mist before 1905

Frank Meadow Sutcliffe made this moody photograph of sailboats in Whitby harbor sometime between 1875 and 1885. I'm imagining him out there with his camera, lugging all that equipment, waiting for the fog to roll in just right to create this eerie scene. It's so quiet, isn't it? You can almost hear the creaking of the boats and the gentle lapping of the water. Look how Sutcliffe captured the way the fog softens the edges of everything, making the boats seem to float in the mist. He really understood how to use light and shadow to create a feeling, a mood. It makes me think about how painting, too, can capture a feeling more than a literal scene. Photography, like painting, can be so much about atmosphere and capturing fleeting moments. Sutcliffe reminds us that artists are always talking to each other across time and different media.