Portret van een onbekende vrouw met op de achtergrond Japanse prenten 1910

James Craig Annan made this photograph of an unknown woman, with Japanese prints in the background. It's hard to know exactly when it was made, but something in the atmosphere feels very process-oriented. What strikes me most is the tonal range, that soft grey scale. Look at the way the light seems to soften and blur everything. It's almost like Annan is painting with light, carefully modulating the tones to create a sense of depth and atmosphere. Notice how the background details of the Japanese prints are softened, creating a dreamy, ethereal feel. It’s not a hard image, it feels gentle. This reminds me of Whistler, another artist who was deeply interested in Japanese art and aesthetics. Like Whistler, Annan seems to be using photography to explore the possibilities of tonal harmony and the beauty of suggestion, and isn't art just about embracing ambiguity and multiple interpretations over fixed meanings?