Max Liebermann Von Sonnenberg 1910

Nicola Perscheid made this photograph, Max Liebermann Von Sonnenberg, at an unknown date. The tones are monochrome, moving from light to dark, to create a somber and considered portrait. I am always struck by the contrast in these kinds of historical portraits, between the formality of the image, and the everyday-ness of the person. Look at the subject's face, the softness around the mouth, the slightly bulbous nose, the lines around his eyes – a road map of lived experience. I’m drawn to the way the image is almost soft, a by-product of the photographic techniques of the time, maybe, but it lends the image a dream-like quality. I think of someone like Gerhard Richter, and the way he uses blurring to imply the passing of time and the elusiveness of memory. In both cases, the medium, photography, is used as a filter to process reality. It makes me wonder about the nature of identity, and how we construct images of ourselves for posterity.