Portret van een jager of boswachter 1900 - 1930

This photograph of a hunter or forester was taken by Richard Tepe, sometime between 1864 and 1952. The image is mostly sepia tones, with a solemn mood. It's all browns and greys. The sitter is looking off to the right, into the future? Or maybe just waiting for the photographer to be done with his business. I wonder what it was like for the photographer? Did he have to persuade this man to be photographed? Or was he a willing participant? Was there a relationship? As a painter, the relationship with the sitter or the subject is everything; you need that spark. I can imagine Tepe carefully arranging his subject, noticing how the light catches the tips of his magnificent beard. It reminds me a little of August Sander's portraits of the German people, although those are more formal and sociological, whereas this seems more personal. The differences between those artistic intentions is part of an ongoing conversation between artists, each inspiring the next. It's a form of embodied expression, each mark, each choice is an assertion and an enquiry.