Straatgezicht met straatverkoper before 1905

Maurice Bucquet made this photograph of a street vendor in what looks like early 20th-century France. It's presented here within the pages of a book, the photograph a small rectangular window into a bustling time. Imagine Bucquet, positioning his camera, maybe a large format, focusing on the scene playing out on the street. I wonder what caught his eye? Was it the vendor themselves or the composition of figures on the street? Look at the way the figures are arranged; the vendor pushing their cart, potential customers milling nearby, the buildings loom in the background. Photography, like painting, is about light, shadow, and form, only here the capture is instant, a decisive moment frozen in time. It reminds me of Atget, capturing the poetic banality of Paris, or even the paintings of Manet, depicting modern life with a detached curiosity. The conversation between photography and painting is ongoing; each informs the other, challenging our perceptions and expanding our understanding of what it means to see and represent the world around us.