Portret van Georges Braque before 1903

Pierre Dubreuil made this portrait of Georges Braque using photography, a relatively new medium at the time. Photography differs from traditional art forms; it's less about direct handcrafting and more about capturing light and shadow. In this image, the darkroom processes would have been very important. The resulting high contrast evokes the fragmented forms of Cubism, the art movement that Braque co-founded. Consider how photography democratized portraiture. Unlike painting or sculpture, photography offered a relatively quick and affordable way to capture a likeness. This shifted artistic value, placing emphasis on the photographer's eye and their ability to manipulate the medium's inherent qualities. By embracing photography, Dubreuil challenged traditional hierarchies within the art world, blurring the lines between fine art and the more accessible realm of photographic portraiture.