Parade van auto’s (autobussen) op de wereldtentoonstelling in St. Louis (Louisiana Purchase Exposition), 1904 1904

Jan Schüller made this photograph titled 'Parade van auto’s' at the world fair in St. Louis in 1904, though it's the kind of photograph that makes you feel like you were almost there. The sepia tone is so subtle, so gentle, you can almost smell the humidity of the day. Look how the crowd gathers, each figure a study in anticipation, their faces turned towards the spectacle, a double-decker bus making its way through the fair. The texture of the print itself, slightly mottled with age, adds another layer of depth. It’s as if the image itself is aging, and becoming a memory. The way Schüller captured the light, filtering through the trees, softening the edges of the buildings, reminds me of some of the early Impressionist painters, like Camille Pissarro. Both artists embrace the beauty of everyday life. Neither artist seeks to capture reality in sharp detail, and instead embraces a sense of the fleeting and the ephemeral.