Twee mannen bij een boerderij c. 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe made this photograph of two men by a farm at an unknown date with a muted palette, giving it a timeless quality. I'm immediately drawn to the texture of the thatched roof, which seems to bristle with a life of its own, like thickly applied paint. I imagine Tepe, carefully composing the shot, thinking about light and shadow, wanting to capture the essence of rural life, of people in relation to their environment. What was it like to stand there, framing the shot, deciding on the exposure? The ladder leaning against the brickwork suggests a process of maintenance and care, a human touch on the building. There's a dog house and a bowl. It reminds me of Van Gogh's paintings of peasant life, or maybe even some of the more rustic scenes depicted by the Barbizon School, where artists sought to capture the simple beauty of the countryside. Artists are always in conversation with each other, building upon the ideas of the past to create something new. This photograph, like a painting, invites us to pause and consider the world around us in all its messy, beautiful complexity.