Dorpsgezicht c. 1920 - 1940

This photograph, titled Dorpsgezicht, whose maker is called G. Hidderley, is a small window into a street scene. It’s a study in grayscale, with the subtle shifts in tone doing all the work. You get the sense that the photographer was interested in capturing the light as it fell on these brick buildings, how it defined the edges of the cobblestones. The texture here is everything, and it makes me think about touch. I can almost feel the rough surfaces of the brick and stone and the way the light softens them. There's this great patch of shadow cast by the building on the left, creating a diagonal line right across the road. This division throws the buildings on the right into relief, and it's where all the action is happening: people walking, going about their day. Hidderley's image reminds me of Atget, who captured the streets of Paris in a similar fashion. And like Atget, Hidderley’s photograph, full of ambiguity, invites us to bring our own perspectives and stories to it.