Erinnerungen aus meinem vielbewegten Leben : 2. Band 1901

This book, "Erinnerungen aus meinem vielbewegten Leben," or "Memories from my eventful life," by Heinrich Eduard von Lade, is a world of light and shadow. The artist is using what appears to be a photograph in tandem with the written word, a soft and pale image, like a memory fading at the edges. There's something about the texture of that image that pulls me in. It’s not about sharp details, it’s about this sort of hazy, dreamy quality. The man's face almost disappears into the background, just like a moment does as time passes. Take that signature, for instance, "Eduard von Lade," scribbled below the portrait. It's like he's making his mark, leaving a trace. You see similar approaches to image-making in the work of Gerhard Richter who used blurring techniques to explore themes of memory, history, and representation. Both artists embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations over fixed or definitive meanings.