Portret van twee onbekende mannen die ieder een onderarm missen before 1866

This photographic print by Malespine depicts two men, and it's presented as part of a book spread. The image, sepia-toned, contrasts starkly with the surrounding textual matter, drawing the viewer's eye directly to the subjects. The texture of the paper and the aged quality of the photograph evoke a sense of historical distance, yet the direct gaze of the men creates an immediate connection. Formally, the composition is bisected, divided between the men and the text. The men's symmetrical pose initially suggests a study in portraiture, yet this is destabilized by their shared physical difference. The men draw attention to the body as a site where the boundaries between the ‘whole’ and the ‘fragmented’ become ambiguous. How do we interpret their disfigurement? Is it to evoke empathy, scientific curiosity, or perhaps something more unsettling? Ultimately, the image confronts us with questions about representation, the body, and the gaze. It compels us to consider how we assign meaning to the human form and challenges any fixed notions of what constitutes wholeness. It is an image that continues to provoke introspection.