Bezoek aan een dorp 1927 - 1931

This photographic album sheet entitled 'Bezoek aan een dorp' or 'Visit to a Village' was made by an anonymous artist. There are so many contrasts here. The black and white palette really throws the tonal values into stark relief, and the process of photography feels very present. It's like a document, recording a specific moment in time and place. The texture is interesting too. The grain of the images give it a tactile quality, almost like you could run your fingers over the surface and feel the individual specks of light and shadow. I am drawn to the middle image of a village. The composition, with the people standing in front of the village in a group, feels formal and staged, but the contrast of light against the forest behind them makes it feel intimate at the same time. The work of someone like Gerhard Richter comes to mind, how he also used photography as a means to approach the art making. Ultimately, art is just an ongoing conversation, and this piece is just one voice in that chorus. It's up to us to listen and interpret it in our own way.