Jagers waden door het water, vermoedelijk aan de kust bij Arcachon 1898

Editor: So, this photograph, "Jagers waden door het water, vermoedelijk aan de kust bij Arcachon," was taken in 1898. The work feels kind of haunting to me; they look so forlorn standing out there. What jumps out at you? Curator: Ah, yes, the somewhat mournful beauty. It makes me think about how much photography has changed, yet, these quiet introspections are timeless, aren't they? Their formality contrasts sharply with their vulnerability, almost comical and unsettling at the same time. I think there is loneliness there, an echo of the solitude perhaps experienced by the subjects within nature’s grand theatre, what do you reckon? Editor: I agree, that almost performative stoicism is pretty powerful here. Did people stage photographs more back then, before everyone had a camera? Curator: I believe they did. A moment captured in glass or on film demanded deliberate contemplation. And in that staging, sometimes profound truth is revealed... the human condition against the backdrop of the sea's immensity. Do you think there's anything significant about the small boat in the distance, the third man that is separate from the other two? Editor: Oh wow! I completely missed that at first, the other man. That adds an element of voyeurism, almost! I'm starting to wonder who took this photo, and what their relationship was to these subjects? Curator: Exactly! The mysteries deepen, don’t they? To contemplate that initial viewer is to enter an ever expanding discussion that spans multiple views and levels of understanding and mystery, a great joy of any artwork. Editor: I will definitely see that third man next time and wonder about his motives! Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. Every viewing is a new dialogue, both with the art and ourselves, it's so profound.