Ruïnes van Timgad Possibly 1927

This is a vintage photograph of the ruins of Timgad by A.G.A. van Eelde. It is pinned into a scrapbook. I imagine the artist finding the view, setting up their equipment in the blazing sun, composing, and clicking. What was it like to wait for the image to appear in the dark room? The ruins, spread out like bones, suggest a once-thriving civilization, now reduced to fragments. It is a kind of meditation on time, isn't it? A reminder that everything changes, decays, and returns to dust. Van Eelde's decision to capture this scene, his artistic act, is like an attempt to hold onto something permanent amidst the ephemeral nature of existence. Photography is an interesting medium. It's indexical, but also a fiction. It can be seen as a way to defy mortality, in its own way. Think about the still lives of the Dutch Masters, about life and death, paintings of paintings, photographs of photos! Artists are always looking and learning from what came before.