Portret van een onbekende man 1889 - 1920

This photograph of an unknown man was taken by Nadar, but when? It’s hard to say exactly, though the sepia tones and the fellow’s formal attire suggest a time long gone. I love the mystery of old photos, the way they pull you into a different era, a different way of seeing. Look at the way the light fades around his figure, almost like he’s emerging from a fog. The details are soft, with the edges of his face blurred, yet his eyes are sharp. The process of photography itself is revealed through the fading of light, the soft focus suggesting a world in flux, always changing. Nadar, who was friends with the likes of Daumier, was a real pioneer in photography as art, and it's interesting to imagine him experimenting with ways to capture not just likeness, but also a sense of character, a certain *je ne sais quoi*, in his subjects. Think of how, much later, someone like Gerhard Richter blurred the photographic image in order to heighten its emotional impact. This photo, like so many others, invites us to look closer, and wonder.