Portret van een man met snor 1860 - 1900

Editor: This is a photograph titled "Portret van een man met snor," created sometime between 1860 and 1900 by the Gebroeders Sanders. It's a beautifully faded image – almost sepia-toned. He looks so serious, so contained. What do you see when you look at this portrait? Curator: I see a story etched in stillness. The slight unevenness of his collar, the determined set of his jaw… it’s a portal to another time. I can almost hear the ticking clock in the photographer’s studio. Do you ever wonder what he was thinking? The formality of 19th-century portraiture often masks a whole inner world. Editor: Absolutely! He looks almost… uncomfortable? I mean, that moustache is amazing, but is he happy with it? Curator: Ah, the moustache! It’s a statement, isn’t it? A deliberate choice. In those days, facial hair was practically a semaphore. This particular style suggests a man who is both grounded and perhaps… just a little bit mischievous. I see an earnestness about him, almost pleading from behind those carefully chosen details. Is this someone trying very hard to adhere to social mores while also screaming on the inside? Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way! The moustache as a carefully curated facade! It makes you wonder what parts of himself he’s choosing to show… or hide. Curator: Precisely! It's like a riddle wrapped in a buttoned-up jacket. Maybe that’s why I keep coming back to these old photographs – it's the stories between the lines. I think art in the end always does this for us. What is hiding? Why? And do we have the courage to go digging for the truth? Editor: I will definitely never look at a moustache the same way. Thank you.