Portret van David Lloyd George, premier van het Verenigd Koninkrijk tussen 1916 en 1922 1916 - 1945

This is a portrait of David Lloyd George by Howard Coster, but its date is unknown. It’s a photograph, and like a lot of photography from this period, it's all about light and shadow. You can see how Coster uses a limited palette of tones, from bright white to deep grey, to create a sense of depth. It feels like Coster really paid attention to the way light falls on Lloyd George's face, especially around his eyes. There are so many tiny details in the way the light catches his hair and his moustache. The shadows aren't just dark, they’re full of subtle variations that give his face character. It makes you wonder about the kind of person he was, the kind of decisions he had to make. This reminds me of the work of someone like Edward Steichen, who also used photography to capture the essence of a person. And, like Steichen, Coster isn’t just showing us what Lloyd George looked like. He's inviting us to contemplate the mysteries of leadership and representation, which are always open to interpretation.