Bemanning van de USS Wisconsin op het dek 1901

This is a stereograph card, an early form of 3D image, showing the USS Wisconsin's crew. It's a study in the textures of monochrome – the smooth, almost silky tones of the sky, against the rougher, granular feel of the ship and the men's uniforms. I love how the anonymous photographer uses the density of the crowd to create a visual field, almost like a field painting. Each sailor is a tiny mark, a dab of dark against light, collectively forming a pattern. It reminds me of Chuck Close's portraits, where individual marks come together to form a larger image. Look closely at the faces, those tiny ovals of light and shadow. Each one is slightly different, a unique expression caught in a moment. There’s a beautiful ambiguity in this photograph; it’s both a documentary record and an abstract composition. It's this tension between representation and abstraction that keeps me coming back. It resonates with Gerhard Richter’s blurred photos, where clarity and ambiguity coexist.