Portret van een jonge vrouw 1895 - 1920

Albert Eisele made this small portrait of a young woman, and its dreamy sepia tones and oval frame suggest the artist worked with light, shadow, and the material qualities of photography, maybe silver gelatin. What must it have been like to stand before the camera, to have one’s image captured? I can almost feel the texture of the paper, the smooth surface where light has kissed the emulsion, creating delicate gradations of tone. I wonder if the photographer was thinking about the subject, the face, and how the light reveals something of her inner life, her hopes and dreams? Eisele’s work reminds us that image making is more than just technique. Each shot involves a relationship between artist and subject. Photography is a material, an emotion, and an inquiry. Artists are always building on each other’s work, trying new methods to represent the world, to show us something we haven't seen before, or in a way we never considered.