Untitled (picture of man pinned to wall) c. 1950

This untitled picture of a man pinned to the wall was made by Robert Burian, and it's like looking into an older world, or maybe into an alternate reality. The image is reversed, like a photographic negative, or a memory fading in and out of focus. I imagine Burian in the darkroom, watching the image emerge, the ghostly figure taking shape. The sharp lines of the frame, the soft glow of the figure, and his eyes… it's a mix of precision and something almost dreamlike. What was Burian thinking as he captured this image? Was it a formal portrait, or something more experimental? The way the man is pinned to the wall, it's almost theatrical. You see the push pin at the top of the frame. It's like all artists, Burian was in a conversation with the history of photography. Each shot, each print, becomes a continuation of a dialogue, always evolving, always open to interpretation.