De Prebischtor in Boheems Zwitserland 1902

Geldolph Adriaan Kessler made this stereograph of Bohemian Switzerland at an unknown date, with photography. The real trick of this piece is how the two nearly identical photographs invite your eyes to do a little dance, pulling you into an artificial depth of field! It's all in sepia, like an old memory, which already sets a wistful tone. Look at the way the rock face is captured, it's almost geological, as though the artist's hand has grown into the landscape itself. See how those trees lean in, framing the distant plateau? It’s like the artist is using them to direct our gaze, creating a stage for nature to perform. I can almost feel the dampness of the stone, the quiet stillness of the scene. It reminds me of the Hudson River School painters like Thomas Cole, who were equally interested in the sublime power of nature. This piece is an invitation, a quiet nudge to lose yourself in the grandeur of a landscape that exists both in reality and in the realm of the imagination.