Tempel van de Olympische Zeus in Athene before 1910

This photogravure of the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens comes from a book by Frédéric Boissonnas. Look at those huge columns, standing solitary against the light sky. As a painter, what strikes me is the texture, the way the light plays on the stone. I imagine Boissonnas, carefully setting up his camera, waiting for the right moment to capture the scene. Maybe he was thinking about time, about the rise and fall of civilizations. These columns, they’re like strokes of paint themselves, bold and full of gesture. The more you look, the more you imagine what’s missing: the roof, the walls, the statues. It’s like a painting that’s been scraped back, revealing only the essential structure. Painters and photographers, we’re all in conversation with each other, trying to capture something of the world. Each stroke, each click of the shutter, is an act of interpretation. It's about embracing ambiguity and uncertainty and allowing the work to speak in its own way.