Gezicht op een Shinto tempel en de Hokogatake rots bij Haruna, Japan before 1903

This photograph of a Shinto temple and the Hokogatake rock at Haruna, Japan, was made by Kusakabe Kimbei. I love the way he’s playing with light and shadow here. It feels like a dance between what’s revealed and what’s hidden. Look at the way the light filters through the trees, catching on the edges of the temple roof and the rock face. It’s almost like he’s painting with light, creating these soft, hazy edges that give the whole scene a dreamy quality. I find my eye drawn to the staircase leading up to the temple. It's a literal and metaphorical path into the unknown. The figures on the steps are so small. They're dwarfed by the landscape. You can almost feel their anticipation as they make their way toward something sacred. Kimbei’s work reminds me a bit of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs. There's a similar sense of timelessness and a focus on capturing the essence of a place rather than just its surface appearance. Art's about embracing ambiguity. It’s more about questions than answers, don’t you think?