Huizen langs drooggevallen rivierbedding in Annonay 1904

This photograph of houses along a dried-up riverbed in Annonay was taken by Delizy, and I am really intrigued by what appears to be a landscape that is undergoing some kind of transformation! Looking at the image, I can almost feel the heat on those stone walls. I imagine Delizy setting up their camera, maybe feeling a sense of urgency to capture the scene before the light changes or the river returns. It is interesting to imagine the riverbed going from full of water to almost dried out and seeing the buildings sitting on it. You can see how the buildings are all jammed together, each window a tiny rectangle, full of lives and stories. And below it, the riverbed, mostly dry but with these little puddles here and there, reflecting the sky. Photography, like painting, invites us to see the world in new ways. And in a way, every photograph is a kind of conversation between the artist, the subject, and us, the viewers, as we try to make sense of it all.