Tuin van villa Tritone, Sorrento 1940 - 1950

Norbert van den Berg captured this garden scene in Sorrento with a camera sometime in the mid-20th century. What strikes me first is how he's played with light and shadow, turning a simple garden view into something almost abstract, a study in contrasts. The texture in this print feels almost tactile, doesn't it? Look at the way the light catches the leaves of the agave plants, how the details emerge from the dark. The way the tones are distributed gives me a sense of a specific moment. The shadow seems to emphasize the stillness, like a paused breath. It makes me think about how we choose to frame our experiences, what we leave in and what we leave out. This reminds me of some of the early modernist photographers, like Stieglitz. There's a similar interest in capturing a sense of place through light and composition. In art, just like in life, it's not just about what you see, but how you see it.