Portret van een drietal in een deuropening met een hond c. 1900 - 1930

Richard Tepe made this photograph, ‘Portret van een drietal in een deuropening met een hond’, using photographic paper. It's a scene bathed in the muted tones of sepia, which really lends it this timeless, almost dreamlike quality. I love how the monochromatic palette allows us to focus on the composition and the textures, there's a real sensitivity to light here, and a careful arrangement of figures and architecture. Check out the way Tepe captures the texture of the brickwork, each brick distinct yet part of a unified whole, and notice the subtle tonal variations in the clothing, from the soft wool of the suits to the reflective surface of the leather boots. Then there’s the dog, lounging in the foreground; the patterns in its coat are so sharp, and that single gesture seems to animate the whole picture. This kind of attention to detail reminds me of the work of Eugène Atget, who, like Tepe, documented the world around him with a quiet, unassuming grace. Both artists seem to understand that true beauty often resides in the everyday, in the textures and tones of ordinary life.