Gezicht op de Zwarteweg tussen Milsbeek en Groesbeek before 1915

Jan Pieter Voorst van Beest captured this landscape around Groesbeek using photography. It's not just about recording a scene; it’s about the labor of land and the marks we leave on it. The road, deeply furrowed, suggests constant use and the passage of time. Look closely and you can see the work involved in maintaining such a path. The way the light filters through the trees, the depth of the ruts, the casual figures with their bicycles, all these elements are rendered through the alchemical process of photography, a relatively new technology at the time. Photography democratized image-making. While painting was the realm of the wealthy, photography opened up new ways of seeing and representing the world, accessible to a wider range of people. What Voorst van Beest is showing us goes beyond aesthetics. It prompts us to consider how we shape the world around us, and how that world, in turn, shapes us. In this way, photography operates in a similar way to craft, recording through physical engagement.