Cesar Baldaccini (The Sculptor Cesar in his Workshop) 1955

Robert Doisneau snapped this photo, Cesar Baldaccini (The Sculptor Cesar in his Workshop), sometime in the 20th century, probably with a twin lens reflex camera. The composition is super interesting. It’s all about contrast, light and dark, man and machine, the real and the represented. Doisneau is playing with textures here, from Cesar's smooth skin to the rough edges of the sculpture, creating a sensory experience that is both visual and tactile. My eye is drawn to the sculpture that is next to Cesar. The form seems part human, part machine, and I can see the physicality of the medium, perhaps metal, and the process of its making. It feels like a mirror image of Cesar himself, and it gets you thinking about how artists imbue their work with a bit of their own soul. Artists like the Bechers also played with photographs of industrial forms, but Doisneau brings humanity and warmth to his work. Art is, after all, a conversation across time.