Studioportret van een man met snor, baard en bril in leger uniform 1890 - 1915

This "Studioportret van een man met snor, baard en bril in leger uniform" was produced by Albert Greiner in Amsterdam. It’s a photo of a man in uniform, probably produced as a carte de visite. The sepia tones are so muted, so subtle, it’s like the photo itself is blushing, or fading into history. Everything about this piece whispers ‘process.’ I can just imagine Greiner in his darkroom, coaxing the image out of the chemicals, patiently waiting for the ghost in the machine to show itself. It’s such a gentle image. Look at the way the light touches the man’s face. I wonder about the details, like the smudges around the edges of the photo, and the way that the details of his uniform appear to almost vanish in the light. It reminds me of early daguerrotypes, and the magic of those early photographic processes. Think of what was happening in painting at the same time: the Impressionists were all about capturing light and how it changes things. And so is this, in its own way.