Portret van een man met een strohoed c. 1913 - 1914

This photograph of a man in a straw hat was made using an automatic photo booth, probably sometime in the early 20th century. What strikes me is the sepia tone; it's a muted palette, almost like a watercolor wash, giving the image an antique feel. You can almost smell the chemicals and paper. Looking closely, I notice the subject’s relaxed posture – hands in pockets, a slight smirk. The surface of the photograph has imperfections, tiny scratches and spots, the marks of time. I love that. They remind us of the objecthood of the artwork and add to its sense of history. This image reminds me of the work of artists like Gerhard Richter, who have explored the blurred space between photography and painting, and the ways in which both mediums can capture and distort reality. It’s a great reminder that art is always in conversation with itself, across time and media, and that meaning is never fixed, but always evolving.