Drie jongens op het strand van Scheveningen 1904

James Higson made this photograph, Drie jongens op het strand van Scheveningen, with a camera sometime between the 1880s and 1930s. Look at the composition. The horizon line sits at the center of the image. I wonder what Higson was thinking. There’s a calmness and melancholy here, which might have stemmed from the weather. Or maybe that quiet moment of watching the boys was enough. They are standing in the shallowest part of the water, wearing wooden clogs to protect their feet. The boy on the left has his hands clasped behind his back. What are they looking at? The scene is muted, like a memory. The beige of the beach blends into the gray of the North Sea and the blank sky. There’s almost nothing to it. It makes me think about other photographers and painters who turned to the sea for inspiration. Did Higson know their work? Artists are always talking to each other across time. This photograph is understated, but feels open to anything. You can see something different every time you look.