Chanzy 1975 - 1978

This portrait, Chanzy, was printed by Goupil and Cie in the late 19th Century. Look at the velvety sepia tones, they’re so rich and consistent. It’s clear that photography, just like painting, involves a complex process with lots of room for experimentation. I'm intrigued by the composition. Our subject is cropped quite high, his face centered, pulling you right into his gaze. The sharpness of his face contrasts with the out-of-focus background which keeps the image from being too clinical. Notice too the details of his uniform, they become soft and blurred, the eye is drawn to the clarity of his gaze. I love the way that art, even in its most documentary forms, embraces ambiguity. I think of Gerhard Richter, with his blurred photographs painted to look like photographs, pushing us to question what is real and what is artifice. Like Richter’s work, this is less about capturing an image, and more about an ongoing exchange of ideas across time.