Mar Saba klooster in het Kidron-dal, Israël 1903

Richard Sochor created this photographic stereograph of Mar Saba Monastery in the Kidron Valley, Israel, sometime between 1867 and 1925. It’s a process of layering and collaging with light, each gray tone laid down with deliberation, building up the image like strokes of paint. In this image, light and shadow define every crevice of the monastery, revealing its ancient, almost geological presence. Look at the way the shadows fall on the stone walls, creating a mosaic of textures and forms, it’s like he's sculpting the scene with darkness. There is a strange sense of depth. The stereograph offers two perspectives at once. Is this a trick of the light, or is Sochor asking us to see the landscape with a sort of double vision? The palm tree, is so lonely and singular against the landscape. This recalls the work of Eugène Atget, who documented the streets of Paris with a similar eye for detail and atmosphere. Both artists remind us that photography, like any art form, is about seeing—and inviting others to see—the world in new and unexpected ways.