Untitled 1980

Ursula Schulz-Dornburg made this gelatin silver print, Untitled, using photographic processes. I am really drawn to the way Schulz-Dornburg captures these forms; the light is evenly distributed, giving everything a similar value and making the details in the palm fronds and ripples on the water’s surface almost vibrate. The image is composed of layers of tone – the sky, the water, the line of trees – and within each of these there are areas of great detail. Look at how the trunks of the trees are almost perfectly mirrored in the water. The surface of the water seems still, but we can see these tiny, subtle gradations in the tone. It makes me think about Hiroshi Sugimoto, another photographer who investigates landscape with a cool, detached eye, but there is something about the rawness of the subject here that feels more real, and less mediated. It’s a scene that invites reflection and reminds us that art is not just about capturing a single moment, but about inviting endless interpretation.