Vijf gezichten op Delft c. 1930

Here are five mounted photographs of Delft, arranged on a page, made by an anonymous artist. What interests me is the way this collection of images creates a dialogue, almost like panels in a comic, but of buildings. The textures here are subtle, almost ghostly, captured in the monochrome of early photography. Look at the architectural details; the play of light on stone, the quiet streets. It's like a conversation between surfaces and history. The contrast between the solidity of the buildings and the ephemeral quality of the photographs is striking. The grainy quality of the prints adds a layer of abstraction. This reminds me of the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher. But where the Bechers sought to create an objective taxonomy of industrial structures, here, the artist is clearly more interested in documenting the character of the place. It's about seeing, thinking, and feeling, all at once, and understanding the way in which that feeling changes across a series.