Leerling van Schule Schloss Salem roskamt paard c. 1929

Here we have a black and white photograph, made by an anonymous artist, of a student grooming a horse outside Schule Schloss Salem. I imagine them outside together, the student and the horse, captured in a moment of shared patience. I think about the artist, what they might have been thinking when they made it, maybe about the light and shadows, the relationship of the horse and its groomer, or just trying to capture the essence of everyday life at the school. Look at the window grid, and consider how this intersects with the student and the horse, how their bodies are broken up by shadow and light, by the architecture of their immediate surroundings. The photograph isn’t about one thing, but about a series of elements and impressions that create a composition. Artists are always building on what came before, influencing each other across time. They’re constantly picking up ideas and running with them, making something new out of the old. This piece feels very much like that – an invitation to consider the multiple ways of seeing and interpreting the world.