Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1914

This is a photograph of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, taken by Aura Hertwig. It's hard to say when exactly, but the monochrome tones and the subject's attire suggest it was quite some time ago. I wonder what it was like to photograph Kirchner. He seems like an intense character. Look at the angle of his jaw, the cigarette between his fingers, and the way he is looking off into the distance. Hertwig has captured something mysterious about him. I wonder what they might have talked about when they made the image? Did they discuss art? Did they argue? Was it a comfortable experience? Or was it tense and fraught with emotional undertones? As an artist, you are always in conversation with others. Even when you are alone in the studio. Hertwig is now in conversation with Kirchner. And now we are too.