Lijster bij haar nest met kuikens in een grove den c. 1900 - 1940

This photograph, by Richard Tepe, captures a song thrush with her chicks in a pine tree. The tones are dark, like an old memory. Look closely at the mass of tangled branches around the nest, each needle captured sharply, the light filtering through the spaces. The sepia tones make it feel like we're looking into the past, and yet the image feels alive and present, as if we could reach out and touch the rough bark of the tree. The textures are rich, the details feel precise but also a bit blurry. Tepe's use of photography feels like a form of drawing. It reminds me of how Marsden Hartley used dark, heavy brushstrokes to capture the ruggedness of the American landscape. Both artists found beauty in the simplicity and roughness of their subjects. Like Hartley, Tepe seems to remind us that art doesn't need to be perfect or polished to be powerful. It just needs to be true.