Portret van twee onbekende meisjes Possibly 1912 - 1914

Paul Arthur Weise made this photographic portrait of two unknown girls; I imagine somewhere in the Netherlands in the late 19th or early 20th century. The way the grey tones build up, kind of like layers of graphite, suggests someone feeling their way through a tonal range to describe the girls' dresses and the floral wallpaper behind them. The surface has this soft, almost velvety texture, like a lithograph; you can almost feel the delicate grain. And yet, the details, like the lace collars and the girls’ serious expressions, are rendered with this incredible clarity. Look closely at their faces – you can see the subtle play of light and shadow, the way their eyes seem to hold a mix of curiosity and restraint. It's like looking at a snapshot of a moment frozen in time, but also an ongoing conversation of how we translate reality into an image, not unlike what August Sander was trying to do in Germany at the same time. Ultimately, this picture holds its secrets close, offering us glimpses but never full disclosure, and that’s kind of what makes it so compelling.