Portret van John Farsell als Valdemar in maliënkolder met zwaard 1899

Editor: We’re looking at "Portret van John Farsell als Valdemar in maliënkolder met zwaard," a gelatin silver print by Gustaf Alfred Johanson Dahllöf, from 1899. The mood feels almost theatrical, like a staged history painting. What do you see in this image? Curator: Theatrical is spot on! It’s Dahllöf playing dress-up with photography. This isn't about documentary truth. It’s romantic escapism, wouldn’t you say? That chainmail – it's more costume than combat gear. But look at how the light catches it, hinting at power and drama, the very *idea* of a historical hero. Do you feel that heroic presence, or is something off? Editor: I feel like he’s posing for a photo, not actually *being* Valdemar. Is that on purpose, though? Is he inviting us to think about constructed identity? Curator: Precisely! Dahllöf captures this delicious tension between reality and fabrication. It makes me wonder – is the man embodying the legend, or is the legend swallowing him whole? It also makes me wonder about masculinity and its relationship with power and historical fantasy in the late 19th century! Editor: It’s like a pre-cinema superhero origin story. Curator: Yes, before the age of visual overload, he found an alternate approach to it by romanticising the past! It’s fascinating how one still image manages to hint at all that depth. Editor: Definitely changes how I see photography as simply capturing a moment. Thanks for that, the staged, deliberate artificiality has changed my first assumptions.