Huis tussen de bomen aan het water c. 1905 - 1907

Folkert Idzes de Jong made this little photograph in the early 20th century. I imagine him, a painter, taking up the camera to capture the essence of a place, a house nestled among trees by the water. The monochrome palette lends a timeless quality, focusing our attention on the composition and the interplay of light and shadow. It makes me think about tone – so hard to get right in painting! He must have been thinking about atmosphere, and the way it changes the way we see what is in front of us. I’m thinking about Constable and Corot too, and the way landscape painters invite us to pause and consider how the everyday world imprints itself upon us. It reminds us that art is not made in isolation; it's a conversation, a dialogue across time and space, about what it means to be human.