I Just Came Across the River

Created through the Van Dyke printing method—a form of argentotype named after the Dutch painter, Sir Anthony Van Dyke—this meditative portrait of a woman calf-deep in water is rich in cultural and historical allusions. Her white dress hearkens to the traditions of evangelical Protestant baptism, while the river identified in the title suggests the topographical and metaphorical history of liberation from slavery. Taken at a moment of rebirth and renewal, Speller’s photograph conveys her subject’s awe through stillness, calm, and peaceful self-reflection.