In this painting, Colville directly addresses the viewer in a way that generates unease and fascination. The female figure appears to be looking back at us as we gaze at her, but the opaque lenses of the binoculars show that she looks to the horizon, scanning the distance—seeing right through us. The contradiction between what is (a flat arrangement of coloured pigments on a board) and what we want to see (a woman and man on a boat) is presented to us—you cannot truly know anyone, Colville seems to be saying, we are alone, together.