Portret van een man met bakkebaarden 1868 - 1887

Editor: We’re looking at "Portret van een man met bakkebaarden," or Portrait of a Man with Sideburns, created between 1868 and 1887 by Théophile Brackelaire. It's an albumen print, which gives it this lovely warm tone. The subject’s face feels…stark, almost. What do you make of it? Curator: Stark is interesting. I see a certain…weariness? Think about the sitter enduring the long exposure times of early photography. The patience required! But it’s also oddly intimate, don’t you think? Albumen prints have this incredible detail – almost forensic in the way they capture every pore and wrinkle. It’s realism amplified. And I wonder about those sideburns, too… So meticulously groomed. It feels almost defiant, a personal flourish in a very formal age. What does it tell you about how he wished to be seen, I wonder? Editor: A personal flourish, yes! I didn't quite see that. It's amazing to think of someone carefully posing and considering their image that way, so different from our Instagram age. Do you think there’s a statement being made by presenting in what we understand now to be sepia tone? Curator: It definitely creates a nostalgic feeling. I am fascinated by the way it speaks to the fleeting nature of life and how it captures it and allows one to relive it later. It does this whilst allowing a portal into understanding what one might feel or undergo within that lifetime. Editor: It’s so evocative; I find myself wondering about the story etched on his face. Curator: Exactly! That's the magic, isn't it? The best portraits are never really *about* the sitter, but about ourselves, peering in and finding reflections. I think there’s a kind of wisdom captured, whether real or projected. What a stunning man; Brackelaire's capture of that alone is astonishing.