Schaapsherder met kudde before 1903

This is a black and white photograph of a shepherd with a flock, made by Oskar de Teffé, and it's printed in a book. The tonal range in this image is fascinating, ranging from a bright white sky to a dark treeline. It is so painterly! Looking closely, you can see how the contrast between light and shadow creates a kind of rhythm across the scene. It's like a visual dance, isn't it? There is a dense cluster of sheep in the middle ground that reads as one solid mass and yet somehow it doesn’t feel heavy. There's something about the way the image is composed that reminds me of the Barbizon school. Perhaps someone like Corot? In both, we see the romanticizing of rural life but, more importantly, a sense of experimentation and exchange of ideas. Art isn't about fixed answers, but about keeping the conversation alive.