Faces #7 1998

Vibeke Tandberg made "Faces #7" as a photograph. Look at the subtle tonal range and quiet composure of this portrait, like a Vermeer in drag. The light is so soft and even, like a painting, but the slight blurriness is a clue we're seeing a photo. The woman's shirt is a grayish-green, her eyes, a watery blue, and there's a feeling of directness but also distance, maybe something lost in translation. There's a kind of androgyny at play that reminds me of Hannah Wilke's photographs, where the personal becomes a site for questioning gender. The whole thing has a washed-out feeling, like faded memory, and the composition is centered and still. It feels super intimate, as if we're face to face with this person in a private moment. In art, the smallest gestures can make the biggest waves, you know?