Richard Strauss at the conductor's desk c. 1930 - 1950

Erich Salomon took this photograph of Richard Strauss at the conductor's desk sometime around the early twentieth century with what I imagine must have been a very fancy camera, or a very long exposure, or both. The photograph is stark. A bright spot exposing the face and the tie. The rest is lost to the dark, a sort of chiaroscuro that Caravaggio would have been proud of. You can feel the artist experimenting with light and shadow. He makes the most of a limited palette, pushing it to create a wide range of tones and textures. It’s a study of restraint. The focal point, Strauss's face, is very human. It's got wrinkles and bags and spots and it's really just very real. It reminds me of a Warhol silkscreen. The photo feels both very modern and very old, and in that way, it’s timeless.