Gezicht op Sorrento, Italië 1857 - 1914

Giorgio Sommer captured this view of Sorrento, Italy with albumen print. The town nestles on the cliffs overlooking the sea. But what does the sea mean to us? In antiquity, water symbolized chaos, the unknown. Remember the terrifying sea monsters depicted in ancient maps. Now, consider the boats in the harbor, these vessels have long been symbols of transition, of journeys into the unknown, like Charon's boat ferrying souls across the river Styx. This motif persists through time. Think of the ship as a metaphor for life's voyage, laden with hope, dreams, and the inevitable storms. The psychological pull of the sea is undeniable. It stirs our deepest fears and desires. Its vastness evokes feelings of both insignificance and boundless possibility. These are ancestral memories echoing within us, a perpetual cycle of departure and return that shapes our understanding of existence.