Portret van een onbekende man met hond 1917

This small photograph shows an unknown man with a dog, and was made by American Automatic Photography. I can imagine the artist setting up his studio with the backdrop and the bench, carefully positioning his subjects. I like how the man and his dog are both posed so formally, almost symmetrically. What was he thinking as he sat there? Did he feel awkward? What was the dog thinking? Is that even his dog? The sepia tones and slightly blurred focus give the image a timeless quality, like a memory fading at the edges. There's a stillness, a quietness in the scene that I find really compelling. It reminds me of some of the early photographic portraits I've seen, where people were trying to capture something essential about themselves. You know, every artist is building on what came before, responding to and riffing on the ideas of other artists. And in that sense, we're all in conversation with each other, across time and space, constantly pushing the boundaries of what art can be. It's a beautiful thing.