Portret van een meisje 1904 - 1906

This portrait of a girl was captured by Onnes Kurkdjian sometime between 1851 and 1903. The sepia tones give it a timeless quality, don't they? The girl's expression is so intriguing. I wonder what she was thinking, what the occasion might have been. Was she told to stand still and smile? Or was she just naturally reserved? I think about the process of making a portrait like this. The photographer carefully posing his subject, adjusting the light, waiting for the right moment to capture their essence on film. It’s a dance between intention and chance, control and surrender. Photography, like painting, is about seeing, feeling, and translating experience into a tangible form. Each gesture, each brushstroke or click of the camera, is a record of a moment in time, an echo of the artist's presence. I feel a connection to Kurkdjian through this image, a shared understanding of the complexities and joys of capturing the human form.