Gezicht op twee naakte mannen bij een rivier before 1902

This photograph of two nude men by a river was created by Charles Messaz at the end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century. I wonder what it was like to be Messaz, setting up his camera and directing the models into that precise position. This is a medium—photography—that has the capacity to register details in light and shadow. The surface appears quite matte, lacking any kind of sheen or glossiness. The figures in the photograph are partially blurred, making the image seem dreamlike and slightly out of focus. I wonder if Messaz was interested in the art of antiquity? There’s something very classical in the staging of the nude figures in the landscape. It brings to mind some of the images that were so popular at the time, which sought inspiration from a bygone age. In the end, making art is about sharing your own ideas and responding to other art. It’s all about interpretation. There are never fixed or definitive readings of any artwork.