J. Nilsen Laurvik 1920

This photograph by Alfred Stieglitz portrays J. Nilsen Laurvik, and it's all about tonality. Look at how Stieglitz coaxes a whole world from shades of brown, it’s like he’s painting with light. Photography, like painting, is a process of layering and revealing. The way the light catches Laurvik's cheekbones, or the soft focus around his eyes, it’s all about the physicality of the medium. You can almost feel the darkroom magic. There's a particular spot, just above his left eyebrow, where the light fades, it speaks volumes. It's like a tiny, quiet moment of contemplation, a small meditation on impermanence. Stieglitz was pushing photography to be seen as art, just like his contemporary Edward Steichen, and in this portrait you see how they were trying to capture not just a likeness, but a feeling. What does it mean to really see someone?