Twee jongens bij een klooster in Pheneus before 1910

This is a photograph, "Twee jongens bij een klooster in Pheneus," by Frédéric Boissonnas. It’s hard to tell exactly when it was made, but it captures the essence of an ongoing moment. The piece invites us into a world seen through the lens of time and texture. The blacks are soft and the whites glow like something remembered, revealing more than just the surface. Look at the monk, standing in the arched doorway. The greyscale palette feels like it’s aged, giving an impression of something really old, even ancient, yet it’s caught in this really intimate, small-scale print. Boissonnas has captured something really special, the everyday of another place, another time. It’s like the conversation continues, decades or centuries later.