Meisje met bloemen aan de kust bij Traverse City in Michigan c. 1910

This blue tinted photograph of a girl holding flowers on the coast of Traverse City, Michigan, was made by John C. Hunter. Look at this dreamlike figure, caught between land and water, youth and nature. I wonder what Hunter was thinking when he made this image, was it a portrait, or an attempt to capture a fleeting moment of beauty? I love how the monochromatic blue flattens and unifies the image, turning the landscape into an evocative dreamscape. I think it reminds me a little of those early photographic experiments and maybe even some old cyanotypes. Hunter captures this girl in a field of flowers, on the edge of the lake, and, the way the forms dissolve into the overall color, she could almost be a nymph or spirit of the place. It’s as if he’s discovered a secret world, and is inviting us to look.