A Wee Cot Hoose c. 1922

John M. Whitehead made this photograph, "A Wee Cot Hoose," sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. I imagine Whitehead, out in a field, lugging his camera equipment through the marshy landscape. It’s almost dark, and he's trying to capture this little house before the light is completely gone. I wonder what it was like to set up a shot like this back then. The way the light catches the side of the cottage, and the almost eerie glow from the window, make me think this wasn't just a picture, but a feeling that Whitehead was trying to convey. Painters and photographers, we're all just trying to freeze a moment, an impression, so we can look at it again and again. It is a way of thinking about seeing, even knowing, in a world of constant change.