Portret van een vrouw met een hoofddeksel en een bril 1863 - 1900

This is a portrait of a woman with a headdress and glasses, created by Abraham Koorenhoff. The albumen print is an intimate oval composition dominated by muted sepia tones, lending it a sense of faded memory. The subject's face, framed by a dark, intricately woven headdress, stares directly at the viewer. Her gaze, intensified by the spectacles, commands attention, yet it also possesses a certain vulnerability. The artist balances light and shadow to sculpt the form, with subtle variations in tone creating depth in the otherwise flat plane. The composition is structured to draw focus to the face. The headwear and attire are meticulously detailed, suggesting Koorenhoff's attention to texture and form. The oval frame softens the edges of the portrait, creating a sense of enclosure and intimacy. This compositional choice invites us to consider the social conventions of portraiture at that time, questioning how identity was constructed and presented. The sepia tones contribute to a sense of temporal distance. This evokes a broader conversation about how photographic representation shapes our perception of history.