Portret van een onbekende man achter een tafel 1913 - 1920

Fong & Co. made this photographic portrait of an unknown man behind a table sometime in the past. What grabs me about this image is the way the subject is staged within the domestic interior, almost like a still life arrangement. There’s a formality to it – the crisp tablecloth, the ornate dishware – but also an oddball charm in the skull perched on the table, flanked by crossed swords hung on the wall. It’s this kind of tension that makes art interesting, right? The push and pull between what’s expected and what’s delightfully out of place. Look at the surface quality, the way the light catches the polished metal of the coffee pot. It feels like a glimpse into a very specific moment, a time capsule of sorts. It reminds me a little of the work of Thomas Demand, who recreates scenes from photographs as large scale paper models, which are re-photographed. Both artists share this interest in the play between reality and artifice. I think art is always a negotiation with what we think is real, and it is in that negotiation that we find new ways of seeing.