Portrait Study 1917

This is a portrait photograph, by Morton Schamberg. The sepia tones lend a feeling of time, a kind of golden-brown wash over everything. The way the light catches the subject's features, the soft gradations of shadow, it’s all about the interplay between surface and depth, and the tonal range is restricted yet so evocative. The creamy white shawl contrasts with the dark velvety dress, each surface absorbs light differently. You can see the texture of the wall behind, but the real drama is in the shadow. That dark doppelganger is a shape in itself. Schamberg, like his friend Charles Sheeler, was drawn to both painting and photography, and influenced by the modernism coming from Europe. He was part of this moment in the history of artmaking, when artists across different disciplines were in conversation with one another. His work isn't about fixed meanings; it's about suggestion, allusion, and the sheer joy of seeing.