Portrait of a Family c. 1940

This photo, titled 'Portrait of a Family' was taken by James Van Der Zee. The tones are really something, a kind of silvery grey, the way it all blends together. Look at the background with those soft-focus circles, they have a painterly quality, like Rothko, yet the family are so present, so real. It’s amazing what the monochrome tones can do to your eye. You almost don’t notice the details at first. I’m drawn to the hands of the mother, look at those bracelets, so delicate. It is about the surface, the interplay of light and shadow, and this is where the photo really comes alive, full of possibility. Van Der Zee’s work, particularly his portraits, reminds me a little of what someone like Alice Neel was doing in paint around the same time; documenting real people with incredible care and attention. It shows how an artwork can be an ongoing conversation.