Drie portretten, afgebeeld J.J.S. Brandsma, E.K.A. de Neve en A. Fabius before 1906

This printed page, titled "Drie portretten, afgebeeld J.J.S. Brandsma, E.K.A. de Neve en A. Fabius" presents us with three portraits rendered, as a reproduction, in grayscale. The subjects are presented as if in a photographic portrait. The ink lays flatly on the page, creating a ghostly presence of these men. This kind of printing creates a strange tension between presence and absence. You're looking at a picture of a picture, the image twice removed from life. I am drawn to the contrast between the crispness of the reproduced photo and the subtle gradations in the men’s faces. It reminds me that images, even those claiming to represent reality, are always constructions. This feels like a conversation across time. I’m reminded of Gerhard Richter’s blurry grayscale paintings based on found photographs – a similar interest in how photography mediates our experience of the world. The artist invites us to consider the way images shape our perceptions, embracing ambiguity rather than fixed meanings.