Versailles, Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe 1904

This photograph, Versailles, Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe, was taken by Eugène Atget, and looks like it was made using light and shadow as the primary mediums. It’s the kind of image where the gray scale feels like a color in and of itself. Looking at it, I feel like I’m walking through this park. I'm thinking about the physicality of this kind of photography, the texture of the paper and the way the light hits it. There's a contrast between the smoothed, carved bust and the chaos of branches. I keep coming back to the way the light reveals the subtle details on the statue. It’s as if the statue is looking towards the future, while the bench invites you to sit and reflect on the past. Atget reminds me of other artists like Bernd and Hilla Becher, who cataloged industrial structures with a similar detached curiosity. But where they focus on the man-made, Atget finds a dialogue between nature and artifice. Ultimately, this photograph is not about definitive answers, but about embracing the play of light, shadow, and the myriad stories they can tell.