Portret van een vrouw 1880 - 1940

This small photograph, “Portret van een vrouw” was made by H.L. Laurence, its date is unknown. The way the light is captured, it's like a fleeting moment, an attempt to fix the unfixable. You know, like painting. There's this beautiful lace collar the woman wears. The detail in that lace, it’s soft, almost like it’s been breathed onto the surface. It makes me think about the act of looking, about what we choose to focus on. The way the light falls on her face, it's gentle, softening the edges. In the end photography is all about softness and focus, and softness OF focus. This image reminds me of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron; there's a similar dreaminess, a feeling of capturing something beyond the surface. It reminds us that art, in any form, is a conversation, a constant back-and-forth between artists, ideas, and moments in time.