Mannen melken koeien in een wei in Kralingen c. 1905 - 1907

This photograph, Mannen melken koeien in een wei in Kralingen, was captured by Folkert Idzes de Jong, who was active in the early 20th century. It’s a scene cast in soft sepia tones, a world where color is muted, and the focus is on form and texture. For me, artmaking is very much about this process of layering and reduction, a constant push and pull. Here, the surface has a tactile quality. You can almost feel the grain of the paper, the way the light catches on the subtle imperfections. In the foreground, the water reflects the scene above, doubling the world, and making you wonder what is real. There is a wonderful sense of depth and distance, the way the figures are rendered in such detail, while the trees and buildings in the background fade into soft focus. It reminds me of Edward Steichen's Pictorialist landscapes. Like Steichen, De Jong is less concerned with capturing a literal depiction of reality and more interested in creating a mood, an atmosphere, a feeling.