Landweg bij Shewasaulu, Zuid-Afrika 1968

These photographs of Landweg bij Shewasaulu in South Africa were taken by Willem Jacob van den Berg, likely in November of '66. The muted greens and browns create a scene both intimate and expansive, drawing you into its depths. I wonder what Van den Berg was thinking, standing there in that landscape. Did he feel small beneath those leafy giants, or did he sense a connection, a shared breath of life? I can imagine him, adjusting his lens, trying to capture not just the look of the place, but its essence. It reminds me of other painters, like the Hudson River School, trying to translate the grandeur of nature onto canvas. These photographs, like paintings, are ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. They continue a conversation about how we relate to our surroundings. And just as painters inspire each other, Van den Berg’s work invites us to consider our place in the ongoing dialogue between art and life, and inspires us to find new perspective on the world.