Dootje van Zijll de Jong in een tuin 1930 - 1935

This photograph, "Dootje van Zijll de Jong in een tuin," captures a moment, a feeling, a little piece of someone's life—a life we can only imagine. I wonder about the person who took this picture. What was their relationship to Dootje? Were they trying to capture the stillness, the quietude of the garden? Or were they simply documenting a moment in time? The act of pointing and shooting, of choosing what to include and exclude—it's a way of seeing and shaping the world. The surface of this image shows the trace of time. It's not pristine, but it has these little scuffs and marks. I think about all the other artists, photographers, and image-makers who have tried to capture a sense of place, and a sense of being. Every gesture leaves a trace, whether it's a brushstroke, a click of a shutter, or a written word. We’re all in conversation with one another. Photography, like painting, is always an experiment in seeing, thinking, and feeling.