Gezicht op de Maas in Rotterdam, links Hotel Smits aan de Oude Haven c. 1905 - 1907

Folkert Idzes de Jong made this view of the Maas in Rotterdam with a camera, sometime between 1877 and 1929. I think about the photographer, lugging their equipment around, setting up the shot, waiting for the right light. There’s a whole world contained in this little rectangle. What stories could you tell about the people in this photograph? Where are they going? Where have they been? What are they thinking? The photograph is not just about the subject but it becomes a record of the artist's encounter with the world. Each picture becomes a collaboration between the artist’s intention and the world’s messy, unpredictable reality. This piece makes me want to keep having conversations with artists, keep looking at the world through their eyes, and keep searching for new ways to express my own vision.