Mount Vernon, Washington, Verenigde Staten: militaire kapel 1936

This photograph by Wouter Cool captures a military chapel in Mount Vernon, Washington. I can imagine Cool, squinting through the lens, trying to wrangle the light just so. The tonal range is tight, like a quiet song hummed under the breath. There’s a softness to the image, a gentle grayness that almost feels like a memory fading at the edges. I wonder what caught his eye. Was it the contrast between the rigid architecture of the chapel and the casual gathering of people outside? Or maybe it was the way the light filtered through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the lawn? It reminds me a bit of early Gerhard Richter, these blurred photographs, a kind of refusal to be too clear, too defined. Cool’s photograph feels like a moment suspended, a question posed rather than an answer given. And that's what keeps me looking.