Weg naar Bethanië, nabij Jeruzalem 1900 - 1905

This black and white photograph, "Weg naar Bethanië, nabij Jeruzalem," captures a landscape with figures on a road. It’s so interesting to think about how this image came into being. I find myself wondering about the photographer, out there with their bulky camera, trying to frame a moment in time, a task I, as a painter, similarly face with every canvas. It’s such a direct, almost reportorial kind of image-making, a world away from the slowness and the messiness of paint. I can imagine the photographer, adjusting the focus, waiting for the light to be just right, trying to capture something essential about this place. How do you catch the light as it hits stone? What thoughts may have they had? This piece reminds me that all artists—photographers, painters, sculptors—are really in an ongoing conversation with each other. We’re all just trying to make sense of the world, one image at a time, and hopefully inspire someone else to see things a little differently.