Portret van een man, aangeduid als Gerard 1900 - 1920

This is a photograph of a man named Gerard by P. Hermann. Looking at the photographic surface, the treatment of light and shadow, feels so considered and painterly, like it was made in a darkroom as a lab, and each print is an experiment. The way the figure fades and blurs into the background, the dark mustache, the subtle shift from light to dark in the face—all these gradations tell a story of how Hermann saw and captured the light on the subject. The more you look, the more you see a real sensitivity, a deep understanding of how light shapes form. It reminds me a bit of the way Gerhard Richter would manipulate photographs, blurring the lines between representation and abstraction. It’s this push-pull between clarity and ambiguity that keeps me hooked.