Old Bridge, Whitby 1908

David Young Cameron made this etching of the Old Bridge, Whitby. It's all in shades of brown, from dark to light, like looking at a sepia photograph. I imagine Cameron standing on the riverbank, squinting into the light, trying to capture the scene with quick, sure strokes. The bridge itself is solid, with dark arches and heavy stonework. You can almost feel the weight of it, the way it's been standing there for years, bearing witness to the town's history. But then there's the water, shimmering and alive. It's like Cameron's trying to catch something fleeting, the way the light dances on the surface, the way the reflections blur and shift. I wonder what he was thinking about as he worked on this piece. Was he interested in the bridge itself, its history, or was it more about the atmosphere, the feeling of being in that place at that moment? Painters like Whistler were exploring similar ideas around this time. For Cameron, like Whistler, maybe it was about capturing a mood, a moment in time, and sharing it with us, the viewers. It makes me want to grab my own etching tools and start experimenting.