Portret van generaal Saded Dowlet, ambassadeur van Perzië in Brussel before 1902

This portrait of General Saded Dowlet, the Persian ambassador in Brussels, might have been printed as a photo reproduction in a book. I'm immediately drawn to the composition: the frame of the portrait is highly decorative. You can imagine the artist thinking about their subject and how to present them, balancing respect with a touch of flair. What was the thought process behind enclosing the general in such a formal manner? It looks like the portrait was shot in a studio, but there's a stillness in the photograph that almost feels like painting. I'm reminded of other paintings which try to capture the essence of a person and what they represent. In each portrait, the artist engages in a silent dialogue, navigating the space between subject and viewer. All works are acts of conversation across time, inspiring and answering one another’s visions.