Poort en brug bij het Beihai Park te Peking before 1920

Donald Mennie captured this image of the gate and bridge at Beihai Park in Beijing, though we don’t know exactly when. There's something beautiful in its muted tones, right? It's not just a record; it's like a quiet conversation. You can almost feel the stillness and the weight of history in those old structures. I wonder if Mennie felt that too, standing there, framing the shot. You know, making art is always like that, a back-and-forth. You start with something in front of you, but then it becomes about what's inside you. The sepia tone gives this image a feeling of nostalgia, like an echo from the past. It reminds me that everything changes, but some things, like the beauty of a well-placed line or the way light falls on a building, stay with us.