Gezicht op de Binnen-Amstel, in de verte de Munttoren 1904

This photograph of the Binnen-Amstel with the Munttoren in the distance was taken by James Higson. I love the way this image almost disappears into itself, as if the process of seeing is somehow more important than what’s being seen. There's a softness to this image that feels almost painterly, even though it's a photograph. The way the buildings and boats fade into the misty background, it's like Higson is capturing a fleeting moment, a memory half-formed. And those reflections in the water? They're like whispers, secrets hidden beneath the surface. Look at the way the light catches the ripples, how it transforms the solid structures into something fluid and ever-changing. It makes me think of Atget, who also documented the changing face of his city with such care and attention. But where Atget feels more like a documentarian, Higson feels like a poet. And maybe that's what all art is, really—a way of seeing the world anew, of finding beauty in the everyday, of embracing the ambiguity and mystery that surrounds us.