Twee foto's van de tempel van Hera in Paestum 1950

Norbert van den Berg made this photo album page, “Two Photos of the Temple of Hera in Paestum,” probably in the 1950s with gelatin silver prints on paper. What strikes me most is the texture. The rough, time-worn surfaces of the temple ruins are so present. You can almost feel the sun beating down and the wind whipping through the ancient stones. Look at the way the light catches the uneven surfaces of the columns. Each individual mark and imperfection tells a story, like the layered strokes in a painting. The contrast between the dark shadows and bright highlights creates a sense of depth and drama, really drawing you into the scene. The way the crumbling stones stand in defiance of time, feels like a metaphor for the creative process itself, building something lasting out of ephemeral materials. I think of Cy Twombly's classical interests, and the way he would evoke a sense of the past in his scrawled, layered canvases. Art is an ongoing conversation, and the dialogue between past and present is always there, waiting to be uncovered.