Windmolen aan een water met boten c. 1905 - 1907

Folkert Idzes de Jong's Windmill on a Waterway with Boats, was most likely created with a camera and some sort of photographic paper at the turn of the last century. Just imagine standing there, the quiet lapping of the water, the solidity of the windmill and house, the soft light... What I notice here is a harmony. What was the photographer thinking when he took the photo? Was he thinking about the human relationship with nature? Was it an attempt to record the Dutch landscape? Or was he simply captivated by the way the light played on the water and buildings? It reminds me of the work of other Dutch landscape painters like Jacob van Ruisdael or Meindert Hobbema, but I appreciate how de Jong brings his own perspective. It's like a conversation across time. There's a beauty in this simplicity that speaks to the enduring appeal of the natural world, offering a glimpse into a moment in time, preserved for us to contemplate.