Portret van Mae Wiedoeft 1937

This is a photograph of Mae Wiedoeft, and we don't know who took it, or exactly when. The blacks and whites here feel deep and soft, with a sensitive approach to tone. There's something about the way light falls on her face, it invites you to look closer, but also leaves something unsaid. There's an evocative tension between clarity and suggestion. The texture of the fur collar is beautifully rendered, you can almost feel the softness, but then you look at the background, it's out of focus, and it's like the photograph is asking us to focus on what is present, and what is concealed. It reminds me a little of the portrait photography of someone like Diane Arbus, the way the image captures a particular mood, a sense of vulnerability, but it holds a certain ambiguity, refusing to offer easy answers. Ultimately, it celebrates the beauty of fleeting moments.