Portret van koning Alfons XIII van Spanje 1905 - 1906

This is a small, anonymous portrait of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. You know, when I look at something like this, I think about the artist and the sort of decisions that they were making. It’s a tight crop on this image, which may mean that the artist was interested in intimacy or closeness, right? The frame is also worth noting, it's delicate, but you see the damage around the edges of the photograph. I can imagine the artist working away on a series of these, but then they stop and leave this for us to imagine why. I really appreciate this kind of incompleteness; it allows me to appreciate the beauty of imperfection. Ultimately, an artwork like this feels like a form of exchange that leaves traces between the maker and the viewer. A conversation about the subject, the process, and the ways of seeing.