Le Paysage Spatial (Mirage) 1962

Jaroslav Rössler made this photograph, Le Paysage Spatial (Mirage), sometime in the twentieth century. It’s a landscape, but not as we know it. It’s all soft grays, blurring the line between what’s real and what’s imagined. The eye traces the poles, dark against the lighter background, disappearing into the fog. You can almost feel the air, thick and heavy, distorting the world. The negative space feels just as important as the objects themselves. Rössler’s not just capturing a scene, he’s capturing a feeling, an atmosphere. It reminds me a bit of some of Gerhard Richter’s landscapes, those blurry photos that seem to capture a memory more than a place. Both artists are interested in the way we see, the way the world transforms through the lens of our perception. It’s not about clarity; it’s about the mystery of seeing.