Portret van een onbekende vrouw 1890 - 1918

This is an undated photograph of an unknown woman by Jan Siewers. It's an albumen print on card stock, a common technique of the late 19th century. Look at the way the light hits the pearls. It’s all about process, about how light transforms a surface into something luminous. The surface has a warm, sepia tone, a result of the chemical process used to develop the image. Notice how the details of her dress are rendered, each stitch and fold a testament to the textures of the fabric. The oval vignette focuses our attention on her face, but it's the details that pull me in. The soft gradation of light and shadow gives her face dimension. It reminds me a bit of Julia Margaret Cameron's portraits, that same mix of clarity and blur. In the end, it’s the layers of interpretation that keep art alive, changing with each viewer.