Reproductie van Whistler's Mother door James Abbott McNeill Whistler before 1903

Here we have an anonymous reproduction of Whistler's Mother, somewhere, sometime. It's a photograph in a book, so let’s imagine the image emerging in the darkroom, slowly, mysteriously, in shades of gray. I wonder what the person who reproduced this photograph was thinking? Maybe they wanted to pay homage, or perhaps they needed an image for a book. I can imagine them carefully adjusting the light, trying to capture the essence of Whistler’s original. The textures in the photograph are so subtle, the soft drape of the dress, the delicate lace on her cap. It’s a different kind of mark-making than paint, but still a form of expression. Whistler was obsessed with the interplay between light and shadow, his influence rippling through art history. From Manet to Rothko, artists have been drawn to that mysterious language. It's like we're all in a big, ongoing conversation. I think, maybe, this photographer was listening in, too.