Portret van een jager of boswachter 1900 - 1930

This is Richard Tepe’s photo, Portret van een jager of boswachter, and it looks like it was made with light and silver, the classic ingredients of photography. What strikes me first is how the different shades of gray create a whole world of their own. You know, like a misty forest, where everything blends together. Look at the man’s beard. It’s like a waterfall of white, cascading down his chest. I can almost feel the texture, soft yet wild. And then there’s his hat, casting a shadow over his eyes. It’s these details that make the portrait so alive. The artist’s decisions about light and shadow, how he plays with the surface of things, that's where the magic happens. It makes me think of someone like Alfred Stieglitz, who also saw photography as a way to capture the soul of a person or a place. Ultimately, art isn’t about answers. It’s about the questions it provokes.