Het gezelschap rust uit op een rots boven een berg in de Harz c. 1903 - 1908

This is Geldolph Adriaan Kessler's photograph of a group resting on a rock above a mountain in the Harz, made with silver gelatin. The restrained palette of browns and greys really brings out the textures in the landscape. Looking at the water, I can almost hear it rushing. This isn’t about perfect representation; it’s about the experience of being there, in that moment. I find myself drawn to the lone figure standing away from the group on the right. He seems both a part of the scene and separate from it, an observer. It reminds me of how we often experience landscapes, both immersed in their beauty and distanced by our own thoughts. It feels reminiscent of early landscape photography by someone like Gustave Le Gray, particularly in the way it captures light and atmosphere with such simple means. Art is always a conversation, echoing and transforming what came before. It’s never about fixed meanings, but about inviting us to see and feel in new ways.