Portret van een onbekende communicant c. 1910 - 1930

This small portrait of an unknown communicant was made by J. le Bris. It's a photograph, so there isn't any visible mark-making or color, but you can tell a lot from the composition and the setting. The textures, though, are so interesting; the rough stone walls behind the young boy, the delicate lace of his shawl, and the subtle sheen of his patent leather shoes. The chair he leans on has an intricately carved back, which has this echo of his own form. I keep thinking about how this relates to the experience of being photographed. He has a set jaw and serious eyes, which give the impression that this is a very solemn occasion, the day of his first communion. Even though the image is monochrome, it still evokes a kind of emotional coloring. You might compare it to the work of someone like Thomas Ruff, whose portraiture also captures the way a moment can be so alive but also oddly, formally, still. What's really there, and what gets constructed? This boy, whoever he is, becomes an ongoing question.