Karl-Heinz Arndtheim, de tweede echtgenoot van Isabel Wachenheimer, en profil met bril en hemd met grote kraag,1949-1955 1949 - 1955

Sometime between 1949 and 1955, an anonymous artist made this photograph of Karl-Heinz Arndtheim, the second husband of Isabel Wachenheimer. It's a profile, and he's wearing glasses and a collared shirt. There’s a real directness to this portrait. The artist’s process— the act of clicking that shutter — is so present. Look at the almost-grainy texture, that particular shade of gray; it’s pure material honesty. I’m drawn to the sharp angle of his nose and the way his glasses perch there, they’re so precisely defined, almost diagrammatic. Then, there’s the soft curve of his cheek, fading into shadow. Photography, like painting, is about light and shadow, after all. It's about how marks and tones come together to create form. It’s easy to forget that photography also captures a specific moment in time. This simple portrait, like all art, invites us to pause, to see, and to remember.