J. Nilsen Laurvik 1920

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, J. Nilsen Laurvik, at an unknown date using a gelatin silver print. Looking at this face I feel a connection to the artist and his subject. I can imagine Stieglitz carefully composing the shot, thinking about lighting and how to capture the essence of Laurvik's character. It’s intimate, but formal. The image, rendered in gelatin silver, has a sepia tone that gives it a vintage feel, like an old memory. The light catches in the eyes and makes them look watery. You can see the texture of the skin, the little lines and shadows that tell a story. This feels like an exercise in reduction, peeling back the layers to reveal the core of a person. This kind of portraiture makes me think of other artists who try to capture something essential, like the psychological portraits of Alice Neel, or the stark self-portraits of Agnes Martin. Artists are always building on each other's ideas, finding new ways to see and understand the world. There are no definitive answers in art, only ongoing conversations.