Bomen in park Twickel in Delden c. 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe made this photograph of trees in Twickel Park with a camera, though the specific date is unknown. It's like a dance of light and shadow, isn't it? Tepe's captured this scene with such a keen eye for tonal variation; everything from the starkest highlights to the deepest blacks are visible in this sepia print. The texture of the leaves and bark is palpable; you can almost feel the rough grain of the tree trunks and the delicate flutter of the leaves. The light filters through the canopy, creating a dappled effect on the forest floor, the eye is drawn into the center of the print where the trees are tightly packed together. The composition itself is a bit of a maze, isn't it? Just as in painting, Tepe is allowing us to get lost in the image, to be confused and then find our way through the forms. There's a connection to the work of someone like Gustave Le Gray, who was also pushing the boundaries of photography as an art form around the same time. Both artists really understood the power of light and composition to create mood and atmosphere.