Gezicht op een dorp met huizen en roeiboten before 1902

This is a black-and-white photo of a village scene with houses and boats, by John F. Revilliod. It's printed in a book and has an odd formality to it, yet also the charm of the handmade. What gets me is how Revilliod handles light and shadow. It's not just about representation; it's like the light itself is a material, a kind of ghostly paint that defines the shapes. Look at how the light falls on the water, creating these stark reflections. The scene becomes less about the actual village and more about the play of light and dark. There’s a dreaminess to this, maybe because we know it’s a photo but it has the texture of a drawing. It's like looking at a memory, softened by time but still vivid. It reminds me a bit of Gerhard Richter’s blurry photos. He’s another artist interested in how we perceive images and how our minds fill in the gaps, embracing the ambiguity of what we see, and what we think we see.