Portret van een onbekende jonge man before 1918

This portrait of an unknown young man was made with an automatic camera, maybe in a booth, by the American Automatic Photograph Company. I find myself looking at the edges of this photo, the information that is typically left out. I can see the image is not centered. The composition is slightly off-kilter. It’s a reminder that photography, even automatic photography, is a process of decisions. I feel like I am looking at a painting by Manet. I suppose he could have been thinking about what he had to do tomorrow, or who he wanted to see. His eyes are not meeting the lens of the camera. He’s elsewhere. It makes me think about the act of portraiture and the relationship between artist and sitter, how they are both implicated in the making. What is revealed? What remains hidden? I want to know.