Twee vrouwen aan een waterkant met hun weerspiegeling in het water before 1899

Constant Puyo captured "Twee vrouwen aan een waterkant met hun weerspiegeling in het water" with photography, a medium still debated as art in his time. Photography in the late 19th century involved a complex dance of chemistry and craft. Puyo would have used a large format camera, meticulously coating glass plates with light-sensitive emulsion, and precisely controlling exposure and development. This print would have required further work in the darkroom. In this soft-focus image, the models and their reflections seem almost painted onto the surface. Puyo was part of the Photo-Club de Paris, who advocated for photography as fine art. They manipulated the processes to mimic the aesthetics of painting, using techniques like soft focus and alternative printing methods to create an ethereal, painterly effect. Think of the labor, the technical skill, and the artistic vision required to produce such a delicate image. It makes you wonder why photography was ever considered less than art at all.