Portret van een man met snor 1900 - 1920

This small portrait by Louis Devolder, of a man with a rather splendid moustache, is not about bright colour, instead it explores the subtle tonality of light and shadow. The photograph’s surface has a slightly faded sepia tone, like an old memory. I like how the sharpness of the figure fades into a soft focus towards the bottom of the frame; it almost feels like he's emerging from a mist. The way his dark jacket contrasts with the crisp white of his shirt and the almost luminous quality of his skin creates a sense of depth, drawing you into the gaze of his eyes. The formal composition and muted tones remind me of some of Gerhard Richter's photo-paintings, where he blurred the boundaries between photography and painting, inviting us to consider the fleeting nature of images and how they shape our perceptions of reality. In the end, this portrait is not just a record, it’s an encounter.