When I came across this scene, it struck me immediately as a still-life already composed by chance. There, on the coarse, sun-warmed pavement of a dock, lay a copy of Il Marchese di Villemer, its painted cover portrait staring off to the right with aristocratic detachment. A torn scrap of red foil—perhaps once wrapping for a sweet—sat nearby, an almost absurd counterpoint to the book’s refined image. From a compositional standpoint, the photograph is anchored by the bold horizontal yellow line running across the frame. This not only divides the image but also provides a visual base upon which the book rests. The warm tones of the line complement the…