Sectie S - piket 50 1905 - 1910

This photograph, "Sectie S - piket 50," was made by Augusta Curiel at an unknown date. It's one of those images where the process is right there on the surface – or maybe just under it. Look at the way the light kind of pools and spreads, creating this sepia haze over the scene. It's as if Curiel is less interested in documenting a place, and more interested in evoking a mood, a feeling of tropical, humid warmth. The light here is palpable, it's almost a character in itself. The road itself, with its subtle undulations and textures, seems to beckon us forward. There's a figure in the distance, barely visible, like a mirage. It reminds me of Atget, but also of so many snapshot artists whose work asks: what does it mean to look, to linger, to find the extraordinary in the ordinary?