Fotoreproductie van een prent naar een schilderij, voorstellende een portret van Joseph Nicéphore Niépce before 1905

Editor: This is a photo reproduction of a print, made before 1905, depicting Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. It’s so interesting to see this within the pages of a book! There's a certain solemnity to it. What captures your attention most about this piece? Curator: It’s funny you say solemn! For me, peering at this portrait, I feel as though I’m peering at history itself. Here's a printed image, reproducing an image of the person, Niépce, who contributed so much to the creation of photography! Do you think he could have imagined we would see him like this? Editor: That's an amazing thought! To consider his hopes and expectations versus the reality. What is particularly striking about this print for you as an artwork? Curator: Its texture, certainly. The print medium gives it a kind of soft, filtered feeling – and, the image itself shows the pioneer Niépce as a thoughtful figure. Almost melancholy, don’t you think? There’s something powerful in viewing an image of someone who helped create images. Ironic, really! Editor: Absolutely! Seeing a photograph of a photographic pioneer rendered in an older medium is fascinating. Curator: I think the layers of reproduction add depth. From a painting to a print, captured again by a later photograph… each adds something and loses something in the translation. A unique insight into the history of image making. Editor: Thank you, I'm glad to know I'm not alone in feeling a sense of history while contemplating this print!