Herbert Somerton Foxwell (1849-1936) 1938

Curator: Hopkinson’s portrait of Herbert Somerton Foxwell is quite striking; the sitter holds a book, gazing directly at the viewer. There’s a palpable sense of intellectual weight. Editor: It feels like a very staged image, doesn’t it? The severe lighting and shadowed background, the dark suit—it reads as an assertion of power through knowledge. Curator: The book itself functions as a symbol of erudition, linking Foxwell to traditions of scholarship. Perhaps even suggesting wisdom, the book as an object worthy of reverence. Editor: I wonder, though, what it obscures? What social narratives of privilege are reinforced by these depictions of men of letters? Whose stories are left untold? Curator: It’s a powerful reminder that symbols can function in multiple ways, simultaneously conveying status and masking inequalities. Food for thought. Editor: Indeed. The image becomes a site for questioning not just what is shown, but what remains unseen.