Groepsportret van een strijkkwartet 1901

This is a black and white photograph by W. Hoffert portraying a string quartet. The group are formally arranged and posed, but the lack of colour somehow lets their humanity shine through. The grey scale gives texture to the scene, it allows you to see the weave of the fabrics that make up their suits and the way the light catches the varnished wood of their instruments. I find myself drawn to the detail of the music stand in the centre, a latticework of dark metal, it is as if the music they play is being physically supported by the object. It reminds me of the work of Berenice Abbott, who was another photographer who captured the changing face of modern life. Like Abbott, Hoffert is concerned with a kind of truth, a feeling, rather than simply documenting what is in front of him. Art isn't about answers, but about opening up possibilities of feeling and thinking.