Gezicht op de Tschengelser Hochwand before 1903

This image, “Gezicht op de Tschengelser Hochwand” by V. Wimmer, presents a landscape made with the photographic process. What strikes me is its documentary quality. The photograph has come into being by capturing a pre-existing scene. It feels rooted in observation. I sympathize with Wimmer, thinking about the material aspects of photography, such as light, lens, and exposure, which shape our experience of the image and contribute to its emotional and intellectual resonances. It seems Wimmer wanted to capture the scene’s atmospheric quality. He’s thinking about how to get this down in his images. I imagine Wimmer was thinking about the other photographers around him and the work they were doing at the time. Ultimately, artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Photography is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning over fixed or definitive readings.