Portret van een vrouw 1903 - 1940

This faded photograph of a woman was made by Jan van Roon, sometime around the turn of the century. The sepia tones, like a memory half-recalled, create a sense of distance. There’s a softness to the image, a delicate balance of light and shadow that seems almost accidental. Look closely at the way her features are rendered – the subtle gradations of tone, the way the light catches her face. It's like the photographic process itself is being laid bare. The textures are understated, more felt than seen. Those shadows on the left side of her face, are they concealing or revealing? This photograph reminds me of the early work of artists like Gerhard Richter, who also embraced chance and ambiguity in his image making. Just as in painting, there’s always something left unsaid, something hovering beneath the surface, inviting us to look again, and again.