Portret van Jacob Hartog 1889 - 1925

This is a photograph of Jacob Hartog, made by Josephus Coppens sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. What I find striking is the muted sepia tone that washes over the image. It’s like seeing the past through a veil, softening the edges, and giving everything a melancholic feel. Looking closely, the surface has a slight sheen. It's the kind of photograph you can imagine holding in your hands, the weight of history palpable. The composition, too, is carefully arranged: Hartog leans casually against a rustic fence. There's a tension between the formality of his attire and the deliberately casual pose. I wonder what kind of conversation Coppens had with Hartog before snapping the picture. The photograph reminds me a little of early portraits by artists like Nadar, who were also experimenting with capturing likenesses and personalities through this new medium. But ultimately, art is always in dialogue with what came before, remixing and reinterpreting old ideas in new ways. And maybe that's what makes it so endlessly fascinating.