Near Ernst-Kellerbrücke 1982

This is a photograph by John Gossage of a place near Ernst-Kellerbrücke, we don't know exactly when it was made. It has the feeling of a landscape sketch about it, like a charcoal drawing. The trees here are heavy and dark, they reach across the frame but leave plenty of space for a gray sky. You can see the artist stepping back to let the scene open up and be airy, like a breath. Gossage is really letting the light seep in, it's a bit like the later work of Gerhard Richter, the way he’d let the photographic image blur and flatten to the point of abstraction. I can imagine Gossage walking around, searching for the right angle, waiting for the right light, hoping the image will emerge. For me, this photograph speaks to the long tradition of landscape, and how artists are always in search of the best way to express their feeling for the world around them. They're working through what they’ve seen and what they imagine, and then letting that guide what they do.