Gordon Webber 1940

Nathan Lerner made this gelatin silver print entitled Gordon Webber. The image shows a man's face with a rectangular object, perhaps a mirror, affixed to his forehead. I wonder, what was Lerner thinking when he created this image? There is a play with light and shadow that speaks to the surrealist approach of using unexpected juxtapositions. It makes you question what is reality and what is illusion. I wonder about the mirror. Is it reflecting something back to the man that he can't see? Is it a third eye, offering a different perspective? Lerner was part of a community of artists who were constantly experimenting with form and pushing the boundaries of representation. Thinking about the way forward, what to do next, and how to see each other. This image to me captures that spirit of inquiry and the belief in art's transformative power. It's not just about what we see, but how we see, and what we can imagine.