Portrait of Edvard Grieg, Hands on Collar of Suit, Looking into Camera. 1905

Nicola Perscheid made this photographic portrait of Edvard Grieg, who is grabbing his lapels, looking straight into the camera. I wonder, what was it like to be Perscheid, coaxing a composer, probably impatient and important, to sit still in his studio? You know, it’s a negotiation. There’s the posing, lighting, the moment of capturing, all balanced against Grieg’s own agenda. I can imagine Perscheid thinking about light and shadow, crafting a composition that spoke to both the man and the composer, while Grieg, fidgeting, was perhaps lost in a melody. Maybe he was annoyed by the whole process? The sepia tones add a layer of nostalgia, but also a sense of timelessness, a quality I think we try to achieve in painting, too. It's all about capturing not just a likeness, but a presence. In painting, just like in photography, we are looking at a conversation across time, artists building on what came before, seeing the world through each other's eyes, and inspiring new ways of seeing, always.