Portret van Frank van de Berg 1914

This vintage photograph of Frank van de Berg was made in October 1914 by an anonymous artist. The piece is mostly monotone in colour, but the soft and gentle gradations of tone really draw you in, don’t they? It's like the artist was experimenting with light and shadow, coaxing out the textures of the fabric and the child's features. It's interesting to notice the textures captured in the photograph, how the light glimmers on the surface of the photograph creating tiny variations. Look how the light falls on Frank’s soft rounded cheek, capturing the smooth texture of the baby’s skin. There's a tenderness there, like the artist was trying to capture not just Frank's likeness, but something of his spirit too. I'm reminded of the way that artists like Gerhard Richter sometimes use photography as a starting point for their paintings, blurring the lines between representation and abstraction. Here, even though this is a photograph, the way the light interacts with the surface reminds us that art is always about more than just what you see.