Portret van een vrouw 1895 - 1920

Johan Herman van der Laag made this portrait of a woman with photography, and it's so small. The sepia tone gives the whole image a feeling of faded memory, like an old postcard found in your grandma's attic. Looking at the woman’s face, her expression is so poised, so contained. I wonder what she was thinking in that moment? The high collar and delicate embroidery on her dress speaks to a certain formality, a self-conscious presentation. But it's the soft blurring around the edges that really grabs me. It's like the artist was playing with focus and atmosphere. Thinking about someone like Gertrude Käsebier, who used soft-focus and pictorialist techniques to evoke emotion. This photo isn't just a record, it's a mood. It's a feeling. And like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers.