Trein bij stationnetje 1905 - 1910

Augusta Curiel made this photograph, *Trein bij stationnetje*, which translates as *Train at a small station*, using a camera and photographic paper. The photo’s almost monochrome palette has a strange beauty, a soft range of grays and whites. It's like Curiel is painting with light, not just recording a scene. I imagine the process of developing this photograph, the slow reveal of the image in the chemicals, as an act of alchemy. Look closely at the figures standing by the train. Their clothes are all light-colored, blurring into the background. The texture of the photo isn’t smooth. It's got this grainy quality that makes everything feel distant, like a memory fading at the edges. It reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter's blurry photos, how he uses the blur to evoke memory and loss. Curiel's work has this same quality of capturing something fleeting, a moment in time that’s already slipping away.