Kasteel Hoensbroek 1903

This is a photograph of Kasteel Hoensbroek, by an artist known only as ‘Monumentenzorg’. It’s an old castle, made hazy and dreamy through the sepia tones, like a half-remembered fairy tale. I can imagine the photographer, whoever they were, lugging their equipment around, trying to get the right shot in the perfect light. Did they have to wait for the sun to dip just so, to catch the shadows on the stone? The image is soft, romantic almost. It reminds me of the way Gerhard Richter sometimes deliberately blurs his paintings to create a sense of distance and nostalgia. I can feel the photographer’s desire to capture the essence of this place, to preserve a moment in time. It's funny how photographs and paintings can talk to each other across time, isn't it? Each informing the other, inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling.