Uitgegraven versteningen langs de weg 1903 - 1913

This small photograph, "Uitgegraven versteningen langs de weg", captures a scene along a road marked by excavated earth and distant mountains, and it's just fascinating. Looking at it, I'm drawn to the cool greys and browns, and the way the light feels almost palpable, like a heavy blanket over the landscape. I think about how this anonymous artist might have felt, lugging their equipment through this place, probably feeling as anonymous as the figures in the photograph. They’re just there, existing within this geological formation and activity. Those excavated piles, are they burial mounds, or spoils from roadworks? I feel a sense of mystery and ambiguity which invites contemplation on themes of landscape and human presence, and how one shapes the other. Photography, at its heart, is about capturing a moment, freezing it in time, and in this anonymous work, it seems to capture the raw essence of a place and time, offering a glimpse into the past that resonates with questions about our relationship to the earth.