Boot op het water 1903 - 1907

This black and white photograph, "Boot op het water," captures a boat on the water, by an anonymous artist, we don't know when. It's like a still from an old movie, isn't it? The photograph has a wonderful range of tones, from the almost white sky to the dark hull of the boat, which pulls you in. Look at the texture of the water; you can almost feel the gentle rocking. The boat itself, with its smokestack and life preserver, is captured in a specific moment, yet there is a timeless quality that I find really moving. And that bird in the top left; it's like a minimalist brushstroke! It reminds me of a Hiroshi Sugimoto seascape, those hauntingly beautiful photographs that blur the line between representation and abstraction, with an interest in tone rather than subject, or maybe it's closer to the Bechers; we may never know. That's the thing about art, isn't it? It's an ongoing dialogue, open to interpretation.