Broedende Wulp 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe captured this serene photograph of a brooding curlew, sometime between 1864 and 1952. Can you imagine him out there in the field, trying to be still, and quiet, to capture this fleeting moment of the bird nesting? I think that's how images come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Tepe, with what it might have been like to create this image. The way the grasses form lines radiating out from the bird, mimicking its feathers. He might have been thinking about capturing not just the bird, but the whole environment it lives in. What I find so great about this photo is how he manages to find this composition. I think artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. This is a form of embodied expression that embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning.