Franz Von Liszt. 1904

Nicola Perscheid made this photograph of Franz Von Liszt with what I assume was a camera, sometime around 1906. I’m struck by the way Perscheid uses the light and shadow, almost like paint, to sculpt the form. You can see it in the way the light catches the rims of his spectacles, turning them into these bright, reflective circles. The way he holds that cigar – so deliberate, so posed – it reminds me of the props we use in painting to convey a mood or an idea. Look at the way the textures of his face and beard are caught in the light, or the folds of his jacket. There is a real material quality to it, even though it’s just light and shadow on paper. It’s like the photographic equivalent of someone like Gerhard Richter’s portraits – a sense of looking at something both present and vanishing all at once. It's not about capturing a definitive likeness, but capturing a moment of presence that hints at something deeper and more elusive.