Portret van Jeanne Henriette Reine Reyneke van Stuwe 1917

This portrait of Jeanne Henriette Reine Reyneke van Stuwe was made as a photograph, presumably around 1917, by Arie M.A. Susan & Co. There’s an amazing depth in the way the tones blend, it is almost like a drawing. The way the light catches the contours of her hat and jacket, it reminds me of chiaroscuro, that contrasty modeling of forms you see in old master paintings. It is a delicate process to achieve that in photography. Look at the texture of the paper itself, aged and slightly mottled, it adds another layer to the image, like time itself is a kind of collaborator here, softening the details. This image has a kind of conversation between light, shadow, and the physical qualities of the paper. I think of someone like Gerhard Richter and his blurred photos, and the way he sees photography as painting. It invites a slow, almost tactile kind of looking.