Herbert 1912

This photograph of Herbert was taken by Morton Schamberg, who, like me, was based in Philadelphia. I wonder what kind of guy Herbert was. Schamberg captures him in a very posed and formal way, and yet, Herbert’s eyes betray a certain vulnerability. The photograph feels like it has been hand-tinted in a sepia tone, which lends it an old-world aesthetic. This aesthetic makes it feel so distant from our own time, and yet, the same kind of portraiture takes place today! I often think about how the choices we make in our own work resonate with those of the past, and this photograph is no different. It's almost as if artists are in constant conversation. There’s a really interesting tension between the controlled composition and the raw emotion that comes through.