Portret van twee onbekende vrouwen c. 1882 - 1922

H.C. de Graaff made this portrait of two unknown women using gelatin silver print. The monochrome palette here reduces everything to tone and contrast; so much information, but so little, you know? Look at the textures, especially the lace on the standing woman’s blouse. It's almost like the photographic process itself is a kind of drawing, building up layers of light and shadow to create form. It’s all about relationships, you know? The way the light falls across their faces, the slight tilt of their heads, the way their dresses pool around them. There's so much in it. Take the tree in the background, for instance. Is it real? Is it painted? It's so ambiguous, and that ambiguity is part of what makes the image so haunting. Think of Gerhard Richter's blurred photos, or even the way some painters use photographic source material, transforming it through the act of painting. All these artists are asking similar questions, working with the stuff of the world, turning the world into stuff. What are they really trying to capture?