Studioportret van een jongeman staand 1915

This sepia photograph of a young man in a three-piece suit comes to us from Atelier Prinses in Amsterdam. I wonder about the process of making such a portrait. I imagine the photographer carefully staging the scene, directing the young man to stand just so, and then patiently waiting for the perfect moment to capture his likeness. What was he thinking? Was he nervous, excited, or simply trying to look his best? The neutral palette makes you look closer at the details – the dark, tailored suit, the crisp white collar, the patterned tie. The slightly blurred background adds depth, and the soft lighting gives the image a timeless quality. It must have taken such deliberation to set it up. It's not quite painting, but it's like painting with light. Thinking about it like that, I wonder if this photographer was inspired by the portraits being painted at the time, and what all those artists might have thought about each other's work. Art is just people riffing on each other, isn't it?