Eiland in de Vecht bij Vreeland (Utrecht) 1900 - 1930

This photogravure of an island on the Vecht River, near Vreeland, was made by Richard Tepe. I’m immediately drawn to the way Tepe uses light and shadow to create depth. The sepia tone gives it a timeless quality, like a memory half-faded, half-vivid. Look at the way the trees in the foreground are reflected in the water. See how he captures the subtle ripples and the stillness of the water reflecting the trees? There's a stillness to it, but the reflections give it a sense of constant movement, a dance between solid and ephemeral. It reminds me of some of the tonalist paintings of the time, like Whistler, but Tepe uses the camera to achieve a similar atmospheric effect. In both photography and painting there is the opportunity to use light to evoke a certain mood, a certain feeling. And isn't that what art is all about, anyway? I love how this piece balances detail with abstraction, clarity with ambiguity. It's a conversation between the seen and the unseen, the known and the unknown.