De vrienden van Dolph Kessler in het struikgewas van een bos bij Gainsborough c. 1903 - 1904

This sepia photograph captures Geldolph Adriaan Kessler's friends among the thickets of a forest near Gainsborough. It’s like stumbling upon a scene where the boundary between the landscape and the people becomes deliciously blurred. There’s an incredible softness in the way Kessler has rendered this scene. The tones are muted, almost monochromatic, which lends the image a timeless quality. Look at the way the figures are nestled within the foliage; they become part of the environment, not separate from it. The texture is rich – you can almost feel the dampness of the earth and the prickle of the leaves. This reminds me of Corot and the Barbizon school, they are all deeply immersed in landscape and feeling. That soft-focus effect is kind of magical. It invites you to imagine the smells, the sounds, the feeling of being lost in the woods with your friends. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to be loud to be profound.