Misonne Weather

It was a sunny autumn afternoon last year when I got the idea to invite a friend for a sunrise photo shoot the very next day. A message was sent, an invitation accepted, and there I was in the evening, wearing my pink-striped coat, carrying pink-striped boxes with croissants for breakfast, happily heading home in anticipation of what was to come.

I woke up the next day, proud of myself for acting on an idea straight away rather than letting it sit and fade with time. I met my friend and her dog at the U-Bahn station, and we set off towards Alte Donau. By the time we arrived, it was clear that we wouldn't be able to see the sun that day. A thick fog floated over the water, transforming everything it touched into the mystical backdrop of a nostalgic film.

I took one of my favourite photos that day. To everyone else, it looks melancholic and moody, but to me, it captures the pure joy of following through with an idea and discovering raw beauty in unexpected conditions.

Thanks to the fog and the minimal editing, the image looks more like a painting than a photograph.

Later that same year, I read a book about the importance of light in photography. That’s where I came across Léonard Misonne – a Belgian pictorialist photographer whose images look like poetry. I was so struck by his work that I knew I had to share it; I had to write about it. Misonne’s art impressed me so deeply that it became the initial spark of inspiration for publishing a new blog. And here we are now!

See more of Léonard Misonne's work here.

"Belgian photographer Léonard Misonne (1870-1943) trained as an engineer before discovering photography. Raised in Gilly, Belgium, the photographer travelled throughout his homeland and beyond to capture the landscape and people of Europe in the Pictorialist style. Pictorialist photographs, characterised by soft, painterly scenes, were created through alternative printing processes that utilise materials such as oil and gum bichromate. The Pictorialist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries sought to elevate photography to the level of other fine arts such as painting and sculpture.

Misonne said, “The sky is the key to the landscape.” This philosophy is clear in many of Misonne’s images, often filled with billowing clouds, early morning fog, or rays of sunlight. The artist excelled at capturing his subjects in dramatic, directional light, illuminating figures from behind, which resulted in a halo effect. Favouring stormy weather conditions, Misonne often found his subjects navigating the streets under umbrellas or braced against the gusts of a winter blizzard." *

I can safely say that Misonne found me in spirit, before I found Misonne's art in real life. And now, as the weather grows colder again, raindrops beat against my window, and the skies are covered in shifting shades of grey, I feel the excitement of the upcoming Misonne months – filled with moody landscapes for the sentimental soul to find poetic relief.

Nib & Ember

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*Press release from the Keith de Lellis Gallery.

Photo credits: Devora Stachel, Léonard Misonne.