Braun's photographs often bore a stylistic resemblance to realist painting in France. Photography was an important factor in the evolution of realism, a style that was then gaining popularity. With its forthright depiction of natural forces, this photograph of a river springing from a glacier clearly recalls landscape paintings by Gustave Courbet (1819–1877). Courbet's numerous river scenes were contemporary with Braun's work and were part of the aesthetic context of the time.