Foto 1905

This is Edwin Hale Lincoln’s photograph of a Monkey-Flower. It seems to have been made sometime around the turn of the 20th century, using a camera and photographic printing process. What strikes me about this image is how the silvery light renders the plants in a way that's almost like drawing. Look at the delicate way Lincoln captured the leaves and the little flowers, with their subtle tonal variations. You can almost feel the texture of the paper and the delicate balance between light and shadow. The composition is lovely, with the plants reaching upwards. The light here makes me think of the work of artists like Alfred Stieglitz. It is a reminder that art is always in conversation with itself. Photography, like painting, embraces process and interpretation, reminding us that there’s always more than one way to see the world.