Straatgezicht in Berlijn met op de achtergrond een kerk 1903 - 1910

This is Geldolph Adriaan Kessler's "Straatgezicht in Berlijn met op de achtergrond een kerk" or "Street View in Berlin with a Church in the Background" at the Rijksmuseum. This tiny stereo card reminds us of that old saw, that a picture is worth a thousand words. When I look at this image, I see a photographer, a man with a camera, figuring out how to make a picture that would somehow capture the feeling of being in Berlin, facing this monumental church, surrounded by all those busy Berliners. He has arranged things so that we can see the cobblestones, the people, the lamp post, and looming over it all, that church. He must have been sweating, trying to hold still, trying to get it right. He must have been so excited. I feel you, Geldolph. Photography is the art of capturing a feeling that can be endlessly reinterpreted. Bravo, friend.